Never Gonna Give You Up
by hpotter11
Summary: Tired of having everyone else take care of her, Beth is determined to learn to protect herself and adapt to the new world in which she is living. With the help of Daryl, Beth just might achieve her goal and get to know the real Daryl along the way.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Beth woke up sharply after hearing a door slam, groaning she looked over at her clock (6:00a) before turning towards her window in time to see Jimmy storming down out of the farmhouse and towards the barn. "Guess he is still mad." Thought a sleepy Beth lifting her hands to rub her eyes before throwing herself out of bed.

She didn't know why she expected otherwise; with Jimmy it was always the same when she did something he didn't like. He would storm off and pitch a fit then ignore Beth for a few days before seeking her out again. She wondered if this time would be different. He wasn't mad because she had messed up his laundry or Lord forgive her argued against something Jimmy said. No, this time he was mad because she had broken up with him last night.

Dating Jimmy was something she had done in high school just because it was something to do. She had tried to break it off with him after they finished high school, but he had insisted that she would need him to be a constant in her life with all of the changes she was about to go through.

Beth had spoken with Maggie and was ready to end it for real when everyone began to get sick. The next thing she knew all of Jimmy's family was dead and he was living on her farm…a farm that used to be full of 'sick' people. At least that's what her Daddy had said. Shaking her head and hoping that Jimmy's tendency to ignore her combined with the distraction of the people who were living on their land would be enough to keep him busy and away from her for awhile.

The farm had been in a flurry since the arrival of this strange group. Group didn't quiet fit them, but she had no other way to describe them as a whole. Some like Dale and Andrea were obliviously close and looked out for each other, while others like Glenn and T-Dog seemed to get along with everyone but still didn't seem particularly connected to the group as a whole. Then there were Shane and Daryl who seemed to be on the very outset of the strange combination of people. Both seemed likely to take off at any moment, but didn't and she was never sure why.

Beth had always been a good judge of character; the death of 3/4th of the population didn't diminish that talent. If anything she seemed to have honed her skill, easily spotting the good and the bad, although admittedly the good were becoming few and further between. Rick was easy to identify. He was their leader, and clearly cared not only for his wife and son, but also for any person who needed help.

Conversely, Beth had always been weary of Rick's right hand man. Shane. It was clear to Beth that while Shane was capable of love he cared only for Lori and Carl. Which would have been fine in the world before walkers, but now it only served those two individuals and in fact put the rest in danger. Although no one had come out and said it, Beth was convinced that Shane had killed Otis. The only other person who seemed to share her belief was Daryl.

Daryl Dixon the resistant bad ass. Beth spent time pondering what Daryl did before and so far she didn't think any of her guesses had come close to the truth. Beth knew that Daryl was good. She had seen how gentle he had been with Carol after the little girl came out of her barn.

She had watched him put himself in the line of danger to shield the others who in turn didn't seem to think much of him. Still, Daryl was a mystery to Beth. Bash, rude, abrupt, hardly had a nice thing to say yet still he was kind. No, kind wasn't the right word, but he was definitely something, and Beth was determined to find out what.

Thinking back to the afternoon that she almost 'opted out' as Daryl had called it, Beth realized that she had made a huge mistake and was never more thankful to have failed at something in her life. Andrea had been lost and confused and was looking for someone to be lost with her when she spoke with Beth. Although she was right, Beth did need to choose to live, suicide was not the only way to make that decision. The world wasn't that black and white.

Shaking her head Beth thought of the different reactions everyone at the farm had, the most surprising having been Daryl's. It was about a week after she had made her choice and decided to live. After tossing and turning for several hours Beth forced herself out of bed and headed downstairs where she hesitantly pushed open the front door. It was the first time she had been outside in longer than the girl cared to admit. Deeply breathing in the cool breeze Beth moved to sit down on a rocking chair bringing her legs underneath her body.

No long after she had settled in the chair Beth saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. Jumping in her chair and heart racing Beth heard a deep rough voice and relaxed. Chewing on her lowered lip thoughtfully she whispered, "Daryl?" "Sorry, didn't mean ta scare ya." Said the gruff voice. "It's alright." Said Beth turning towards the man and gesturing to the rocking chair next to her. "Wanna sit?" she asked after a minute. Daryl didn't reply but moved towards the empty rocker next to her. The two sat in silence looking out at the stars.

"You know what you did was stupid right?" asked Daryl after a long while looking out across the yard. "I know." Said Beth softly pulling her knees up to hug her chest and resting her head atop them. "It was more than stupid." She continued. "I just wish that everyone would stop bein' so gentle around me. I made a bad choice. I was depressed, but I'm not a little kid. I can handle more than they think." She finished in a huff.

Daryl had never taken kindly to people who he viewed as weak. Beth would later speculate it was because it reminded him of how weak and powerless he was as a little boy. "You don't wanna be treated like one, so take some advice stop acting like one. You were weak and stupid, but you made the decision to live that shows strength and bravery. So stop walking around like a wounded puppy and face the consequences. Deal with your shit." Daryl snarled at Beth. "Stop complaining. We get it you lost people." "I watched my mother and brother die." Said Beth passionately with tears jumping into her eyes as she cut him off.

"We've all lost people. Hell, I'd like to see you name one person who hadn't since this damn thing started. Put on your big girl panties and start acting your age." Beth glared at across the yard in the dark, tears welling up in her eyes. She knew he was right but she would be damned if he knew that or if he saw her tears. "Why'd you come up here anyway?" Beth cut at him still hurt and embarrassed. With a glare that had Beth reeling Daryl slung back the rocking chair and shot up. "Damn if I know." He muttered to himself before storming off of the porch.

Moving to her dresser Beth pushed the memory aside, deciding to get ready and go down stairs to face up to her shit. Just like Daryl had told her to do, and leave the mystery of the youngest Dixon for another day.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Morning Bethy." Said Hershel smiling to see his daughter coming downstairs. "I'm sure glad you decided to join us today." "Thanks Daddy." Said Beth supporting a weak smile and pulling out a chair at the table before helping herself to some breakfast.

"What is Jimmy's problem?" asked an annoyed Maggie walking in to the kitchen with Glenn in tow. "The little brat— Oh sorry Beth I didn't see you." Maggie stopped mid sentence after seeing Beth at the kitchen table.

It wasn't a secret that Maggie wasn't overly fond of Jimmy, but she had always tired to refrain from commenting negatively about him at least around Beth it seemed. Preferring to try and respect her sister's wishes about dating the boy.

"We broke up." Said Beth answering Maggie's earlier question. Everyone in the kitchen stared at her; they had been walking on eggshells around Beth since she attempted to "opt out" and hadn't expected her to do anything so bold such as break up with her boyfriend.

"I'm fine." Said Beth a little too firmly for her family to believe her, before looking back down anger slowly rising. Hands in her lap she caught a glimpse of the ugly scar that was now forever apart of her reminding Beth of her mistaking, but also giving her a strange feeling of courage. Looking up she saw the sad looks on her family's faces Beth could feel pity leaking out of each and every one of them, before she felt rage overcome her.

Pushing back her chair with as much force as she could muster Beth stalked out of the house and down towards the woods glaring the entire way. "Stupid, how could I have been so stupid?" she threw out to no one in particular having made it into the woods on their property, kicking at rocks the entire way until she ran into a particularly hard surface.

"Hey!" the hard surface shot at her. "I anit a wall girl move." Beth looked up to see that she had run into no other than Daryl. Anger and disappointment swelled again inside her thinking back to their conservation the previous night. Disappointment that she had so quickly failed at dealing with her shit and anger for the pitiful looks she had been given.

Daryl opened his mouth to bite back at Beth again before pausing to look at her more closely. "What's wrong?" he grunted out instead. The question threw Beth for a loop. She hadn't spent a lot of time talking with Daryl but like the others she had spent plenty of time observing him. She wasn't afraid of him not really, more curious than anything else. Beth wondered what had happened in his life before to make him so hard.

Finally Beth answered, "I'm so tired of people feeling bad for me. I don't want their pity and disappointment. I get it, I was weak and I fucked up. I shouldn't have done it but it's been so damn hard to forget it and try to move on because everyone keeps treating me like I'm glass and a child constantly reminding me over and over."

Beth finished in a huff pulling the sleeve of her shirt lower on her wrist to cover the scar. Daryl glanced down at the girl thinking about how to reply to her tirade. He remembered warning her about this last night on the front porch, but he suspected that knowing and experiencing were very different.

"I aint never heard ya talk like that before. Didn't know you had it in ya." He settled on saying. "I'm tougher than I look. I made one mistake and now I'm never going to live it down." Beth sneered. "You were weak." Was Daryl's short reply, feeling angry wage in him.

"Weak, acting like a kid, and stupid. You don't deserve to be treated any other way." He shot at her unsure why he was making it so hard for the girl. He hadn't been that upset when Andrea tired. Daryl internally shook his head, he could think on that later.

"Shut up." Beth glared at him tugging down her sleeve over her wrist to cover her scar again. "You think you're so tough." She shot back at him. "Hiding in the woods. What's your problem?" Daryl was pissed no little girl would talk to him like that. He fixed her with one of his worst glares knowing plenty of grown men who had shrunk under his stare. "Go cry to your boyfriend." He sneered at her. "I aint got time to babysit." With that he turned on his heel and walked deeper into the woods intent on going to kill something.

He wasn't sure what it was about this girl, what made him so angry, and frankly intrigued. "Stupid." He muttered to himself repeating Beth's sentiments exactly.

In a worse mood than when she left the house Beth stomped back towards the barn. Maybe Daryl had a point; she was weak and acting like a child. Throwing tantrums, shouting, running away from her family. Maggie didn't act like that and from now on neither would she. Beth wouldn't be the victim that people saw her as; instead she would be strong like Maggie and brave like Daryl.

Deep in thought Beth didn't even realize that she had made it to the barn until she felt a strong hand grab her wrist and twist her around. Jimmy. Beth sighed not really wanting to deal with him now, but knowing she needed to. "Look Jimmy I'm sorry about yesterday." She started to say. "That's ok." He cut her off, "I've already forgotten about it. We can just pretend like it never happened." He smiled at her. Beth was surprised. She really didn't think Jimmy would let her go with out a fight.

Opening her mouth to reply Beth suddenly felt herself being pushed back towards the barn. "Jimmy, what are you doing?" Beth asked not sure where this was going. "I'm forgetting about yesterday and letting you make it up to me." He replied back, eyes hard. Not for the first time Beth was slightly uneasy. Jimmy had tried something similar to this before once after a high school party. He had been really drunk.

"No." Beth said firmly "leave me alone. " "I can't." he rasped out pushing Beth firmly against the barn wall and pulling himself flush against her. Beth tried to push back, but she was weak and he had her pinned in between him and the barn wall. "Stop." She all but pleaded as his lips descended on hers.

Pushing her head to the side she tried again to push him away. Undeterred Jimmy started to kiss down her neck pulling at her shirt. "Stop!" she shouted again trying her best to get away. "Get off me." She was angry now. Just as she decided she was no longer going to be a victim this happened.

Pushing his hands away from her shirt Beth felt Jimmy let go. Relieved she thought he had come to his senses, but was surprised when he pulled back and punched her in the face. Beth's hands flew to her eye where she had been hit.

"Damn it Beth." He shouted. "I love you, I'm only doing this because I love you and I know you love me." He grabbed her wrist against pinning her back against the wall, forcing his knee between her legs to keep the blonde in place. "No, I don't." Beth managed to squeak out before she felt Jimmy thrown off of her and her him land hard on the ground.

"You little prick." Daryl shouted punching Jimmy in the face. "She told you to stop." He said wailing on Jimmy who was struggling underneath him. "If I ever see you as much as look at her again I will kill you."

Jimmy scrambled up and took off back towards the house. The two heard the door slam before Beth got enough courage to look at Daryl. Her head was swimming, not 10 minutes ago he had stormed away from her in a rage and now here he was defending Beth from her dick of an ex boyfriend.

"You're gonna have a shiner." Daryl said looking down at Beth as he walked towards her with his hand up, but let it fall back down to his side before he reached her. "You're bleeding." She replied back looking at Daryl's hands. "Does it hurt too much?" "Had worse." Daryl grunted moving away.

"That the first time this has happened?" Daryl threw at her, not sure why he was prying into her personal life. Beth looked at him thoughtfully, considering him before replying, "No." She said wondering why she had just told him the truth, especially when she had never told another soul. Beth looked down embarrassed and tried to rearrange her shirt, smoothing it down over the areas where Jimmy had torn it and tugging her left sleeve desperately over her scar.

"Come on." He said to her all of a sudden turning to walk back towards the farmhouse. With only a moment's hesitation Beth moved forward and followed wondering where Daryl was taking her. Probably going to walk her straight up to her Daddy and tell him what happened.

Beth was surprised however when Daryl stopped at his tent rummaging in it for something. "Here." He said thrusting a flannel shirt at Beth. "Put this on." Before diving back into his tent. With shaky hands Beth turned towards the woods and rid herself of the torn shirt slipping the new one on over her head. The sleeves were too big for her, falling past her fingers. "Come 'ere when your done." She heard Daryl call from the front of his tent.

As Beth made her way back around she saw him ripping a bandanna into several pieces before setting them on a stump near the tent. Stepping towards Beth he gently grabbed Beth's right arm and began rolling up her too long sleeve to midway up her forearm.

When he finished and moved towards her left arm Beth hesitated. "I like to keep it covered." She said softly pulling her arm away. "I know." Said Daryl with what seemed to be a double meaning as he again reached for her left arm again rolling the sleeve up as well before stepping back to grab one of the bandanna pieces he had torn off.

Wrapping the cloth twice around her slim wrist and securing it in a tight knot underneath he had affectively covered the scar from prying eyes. "Thank you." Beth told him feeling more covered than she had in a long time. "Yeah, well I know somethin' 'bout how ya feel." Said Daryl rubbing the back of his neck unsure of why he shared that with the blonde.

"Daryl?" Beth asked as Daryl's back stiffened. He shouldn't have said anything now she was going to ask questions. "Will you teach me to fight?" The question caught him so off guard. "Why?" he shot back at her completely taken aback by the request. "Got plenty of people to protect you."

After a minute Beth looked up at Daryl determined to convince him. "You were right. I was weak, I am weak and I don't want to be anyone. If I'm going to live in this world I want to be able to protect myself and not just rely on others. If…if you hadn't been there today I wouldn't had gotten away. Last time I didn't." Rage flew threw Daryl as he read between the lines of what Beth was saying. Beth was stupid for doing what she did sure, but nobody deserved that.

Daryl studied Beth for the first time really seeing her. She was beautiful, young, and sweet. A perfect easy target for people out there who wanted to do things like Jimmy did. Coming to that conclusion Daryl said, "Fine." Surprised that he had agreed so easily Beth looked up. "On two conditions, first we git yer Pa's permission. Second we do it my way and on my terms." Beth quickly nodded in agreement.

Beth wasn't sure how they were going to get her Daddy's permission, but she figured if anyone could than it would be Daryl Dixon. "Beth?" the couple heard Beth's name called from a distance. "Where are you?" Maggie hollered. "Go on." Said Daryl "See what she wants, I will go and talk to your Pa sometime today." Hesitating looking like he wanted to say more Daryl huff out, "Go put some ice yer eye. It will help with the swelling." With a nod Beth turn and hollered to Maggie, "Coming."

Maggie took in Beth's face, a steely glare coming over her normally soft features. "Don't Maggie it's handled." Said Beth firmly. "What?" Maggie spluttered out surprised that Beth didn't even try to defend him. "Daryl." Said Beth by way of explanation.

"Daddy want us to start on lunch?" she inquired attempting to change the conservation. "Yeah." Said Maggie slowly eyeing her younger sister with interest. With a small smile Beth turned and started to walk towards the house Maggie trailing behind her, throwing glances over her shoulder every so often.

Daryl spent the next few minutes thinking over why he had agreed to help train Beth. Sure there was the oblivious with Jimmy, Daryl couldn't stand to see someone like Beth treated the way Jimmy was treating her, and he would be dammed if he allowed that dick to continue to mess with Beth. But he could just take care of the prick himself and move on. Maybe it was her desire to protect herself.

Whatever the reason Daryl was glad. She was too innocent and that would get her killed. But Daryl wanted Beth to live. With that thought Daryl pushed the lump in his stomach aside and went to find Hershel. He knew that he wouldn't sleep easy until Beth could defend herself, or at least get away. "Just doin' what needs ta be done." Daryl mumbled trying to convince himself as he walked to find the old man.

He wasn't sure exactly when, why, or how but at some point Beth had snuck up on him and gotten into his head. Daryl had found himself thinking about the blonde a lot more often than he should have. He had seen the way she carried herself and the changes she had made since you tired to opt out. He saw the fire in her as she stood up to him today and it made him want to help her.

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	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey! I just learned how to post an author's note, and I felt really silly after reading that I should just start the chapter off that way. I wanted to thank all of you for vising my story and for taking the time to read it. This is my first fanfiction and I am really enjoying writing this story. I really hope you enjoy reading it! Thank you for the likes and follows and the sweet comments.

Chapter Three

"What can I do for ya?" Hershel asked Daryl as he walked up behind the old man pumping water into a large bucket.

Since finding out about Lori's baby Hershel had come around to the group more, being almost friendly even. While he still had a healthy dose of unease around some of the guests on his farm like Beth Hershel seemed to have come around quickly to the Red Neck. It was this odd trait most of the Greene's (and even Mr. Glenn Greene as Daryl mocked in his head.) shared. They seemed skilled at seeing through Daryl's bullshit, or they were at least really good at ignoring it. Either way the Greene's as a whole were a strange bread in Daryl's opinion.

"What can I do for ya?" Hershel repeated to the archer who was lost in thought. "Right…uh." Daryl hesitated embarrassed that he was caught not paying attention. "Beth asked me to train her." Daryl spat out very quickly and a little louder than intended. "And why would she do something like that?" asked Hershel with an amused look as he cocked his head to the side, staring comically at the archer.

"Not sure exactly," said Daryl rubbing the back of his neck. "Probably somethin' to do with Jimmy." Daryl mumbled ashamed face turning bright red. He wasn't in the habit of sharing other people's personal business. In fact Daryl wasn't in the habit of knowing other's personal business and the whole situation made him uncomfortable. Daryl was surprised that the little voice in the back of his head wasn't there questioning why he was doing this.

Hershel sighed and surprised Daryl with his response after letting the amused look slide off his face, instead allowing his features to settle in a pained yet put out expression. "I wanted to kick that boy off my farm a long time ago, but I made a promise to his Pa and then later to Beth that I would do my best to look out for him." Daryl looked at the ground kicking at the dirt and holding his tongue. If Hershel asked he would have no problem kicking that little punk off the farm. 'Not without talking to Beth first you wouldn't.' taunted that little voice in the back of his head, which had been silent earlier.

Hershel fixed Daryl with a hard stare. "Why did you agree?" he asked. Daryl shrugged not comfortable sharing his feelings. "What makes you assume I did?" Daryl countered. With a short laugh and a small smile Hershel told Daryl, "You wouldn't have come to me other wise except to get my permission. Beside, Beth is a Greene and those girls are almost impossible to say no too. You'll see."

"She asked." Daryl told Hershel after a minute. Seemingly satisfied with his answer and probably understanding Daryl more than he had intended Hershel nodded. "She's got some fire in her, I think she will have an easier time learning than either of you know." Said the older man to Daryl who grunted in acknowledgement. Daryl wasn't sure why but he agreed with the vet. There was something about Beth and he wasn't sure exactly what, but he wanted to find out.

"Come on son." Hershel continued changing the subject. "I think that lunch is probably just about done. Let's go eat." With that the vet turned turned and walked back towards the house, the younger archer following in his wake each lost in their own thoughts about the youngest Greene girl.

Lunch was in full swing when Daryl walked into the dining room and sat down at the table, sliding into the seat next to Beth. "After lunch." He grunted at her. Beaming and seeming to understand what he meant Beth replied, "Really? Okay!" Before digging into the food on her plate, a small smile on her face.

Nervous about their training Daryl inhaled this food unsure of what else to do. Finishing before the others he took the opportunity to look at the people sitting around the table. He didn't care for all of them and they weren't his family, but still Daryl was glad to be sitting with them and felt he had friendship of sorts or at least a mutual understanding with some of them. And that…well, that was something Daryl hadn't had in quiet some time. Rick, Dale, Glenn, and Carol he was glad to be near these people.

Daryl looked over at Glenn as he finished telling a joke that had half the table giggling when Jimmy walked into the room. The first thing that Daryl noticed was how Beth's back stiffen, but to her credit he also noticed she did hid or back away. If the whites of her knuckles suggested anything she was pissed. Daryl smiled to himself proud of her reaction. Anger, that was something he knew well and could work with.

Heeding Daryl's warning Jimmy went and sat as far away from Beth as he could manage, keeping his head down and eating quickly. Taking one more drink of water he turned to Beth. "Ya done?" he asked. "Yes." She replied back in a short quip knuckles still tight. "Let me go change and I will be ready to start." Daryl nodded his approval and watched as the blonde walked upstairs glaring at Jimmy and daring the boy with his eyes to follow her upstairs. But he didn't have worried the boy kept his head resolutely down.

"If we do this I have three rules you gotta follow." Daryl told Beth. "Alright, let's hear 'em." She replied. "First you do what I say when I say it." Beth nodded. "I can do that." "Two no complaining." "Yes sir Mr. Dixon." Beth teased with a mock salute, which resulted in a negative face for Daryl. "Last you gotta have a reason for wanting this. It 'aint gonna happen if ya don't want it." Daryl told her with a serious tone laced into his voice.

Daryl needed to make sure she had the motivation to go through with this. If she wasn't dedicated she would be wasting both of their time, and more importantly there was the possibility someone could get hurt. "I do." Said Beth somberly and with out hesitation. "Right then git ta running fast as you can to the pump and back go." He told her.

Beth took off running the path from the barn to the pump which she knew equaled roughly a quarter of a mile round trip. Beth came back slightly out of breath but doing well nonetheless. "Again." Was Daryl's only direction. Beth took off again trying to speed up her pace a little. "Don't worry 'bout sprintin' go at the pace you did the first time." He called to Beth as she finished her second lap. This went on for several more laps Daryl calling out directions about her form and breathing to Beth as she finished each lap.

After the fourth lap Beth's calves were burning and sweat was running down her face, panting and with her hands on her knees Daryl told her to stop. "Your gonna have to do better than that." He told her passing Beth a water bottle. Drinking greedily Beth nodded.

"Slow down your gonna make yourself sick." He chided her. Beth stopped wiping her mount. Give me 5 push-ups. "Great." Beth murmured rudely. "What was that?" Daryl asked implying that she was breaking rule number 2 no complaining. "How many?" Beth shot back ignoring his questions. "'Till you can't go no more."

1…2…3…push ups later Beth's arms gave out underneath her and she feel on her face. "10 sit ups." Daryl told her next not giving Beth a break. Beth found these to be easier while her stomach began to burn after the second sit-up; she was able to get through all 10, feet slightly sliding further away from her body the more she attempted. "Take a break." Daryl told her coming to sit down on the ground next to her.

"I'm going hunting soon, so after dinner I want you to come back out here and do 4 laps, 5 push-ups and 10 sit-ups. Got it?" Daryl told Beth who nodded still to tired to speak. "Good." said Daryl pushing off the ground. "That's all for now." He called over his shoulder walking back to his tent.

That night Beth ran again, not finding it any easier than it had been after lunch. Panting and sweat dripping down her face she ran until her legs began to shake. It had been harder to do with out Daryl there, but she knew that this is part of what he was talking about. The reason she needed to train, part of that purpose was to motivate her when she was alone, and motivate her it did.

Ten minutes later a dirty smelly Beth made her way around to the far side of their property catching the attention of a brooding Red Neck who happened to be coming out of the woods not to far off from where the blonde was headed. Beth stopped under a large full oak tree with a few strong limbs jutting out in different directions over 6 feet off the ground.

The tree where she stopped was just far enough away from the tree line leading into the woods that Daryl felt confident he would know if someone or something like a walker was lurking and Beth would be able to get away quickly, or he could take care of the problem.

Beth set her water bottle on the ground near the trunk of the tree and began climb upwards. Startled Daryl opened his mouth to shout at the girl before he noticed chucks of wood sticking of the trunk every half-foot or so, like a makeshift ladder. Daryl was amazed that she could see so well with nothing but the stars lighting the night sky.

When Beth reached the top of the ladder, she began to carefully scoot out towards the middle of the limb unrolling something as she went. The mystery something flew down below Beth stopped before it hit the ground. As she climbed back down Daryl realized that it was a swing.

Smiling to himself at her creativity he watched as she sat on the swing and began climbing higher and higher into the air. Daryl thought she looked free. The wind blowing her hair back behind her head, and Beth's face looked more carefree than he had seen her ever. Then Beth began to sing.

Not that he would admit it out loud, but he found her voice comforting. Sinking down to the ground and resting his back against a tree, Daryl closed his eyes and let her voice surround him.

He wasn't sure how much longer he sat there as Beth was swinging, but he eventually saw her slow down and come to an enviable stop, and did her song. Beth hummed quietly while she climbed back up the tree swing in hard to rewrap it around the large solid branch and headed back into the farmhouse. Brushing off his jeans Daryl stood up and walked back towards his own tent ready to turn in for the night.

"Find anything good?" Dale hollered down towards Daryl as he neared the group's tents. "Few rabbits, but not too much." Daryl told him. "Needed to go on a longer hunt for anything more substantial. Dale nodded, "I will let you know if I see anything from up here." He told the archer before lifting his night vision goggles back to his face.

Daryl continued towards his tent content to be with his own thoughts before waking up and starting all over again, but instead of that he encountered a pacing, frantic Carol in front of his tent. Daryl stood waiting to be noticed.

Carol always sought him and which was odd to him and he didn't quiet understanding why she felt the need to check in on him and it seemed that tonight was no different. "Ya don't need ta keep doin' this." he told her cutting straight to the point. Jumping, Carol turned surprised to see Daryl.

"You gotta stop sneaking up on people." Carol chided him. Daryl looked back her deciding not to respond and instead just wait to see what the lady wanted. "You need any help with the rabbits you caught?" she inquired. "If you wanna." Said Daryl shrugging. "I will take them inside the house and tomorrow I can skin and cook them." Said Carol stretching out her hands for the bunnies. "Sure." Said Daryl handing over the rabbits, glad he wouldn't have to do all of the work, wasn't super great in the kitchen anyway.

"Or we can do it tonight if you prefer." The older woman countered brushing his hand with hers as she took the bunnies. "Naw, tomorrow 's fine." Said Daryl dismissively and quickly pulling away his hand. "Alright, see ya in the morning." Carol called. Daryl nodded at the greying woman before entering his tent and zipping the flap closed.

Daryl liked Carol she had always done what needed to be done with out making a fuss, but lately she had seemed to be finding Daryl wherever he went or making up reasons for her to help him. Deciding to think on that later, Daryl pushed all thoughts of Carol or rabbits out of his head and lay down to try and sleep. Something that seemed to come easier after nights he spent with Beth.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Here is Chapter Four. I didn't have a lot of time to really look through it and edit because I got married yesterday! But I very much look forward to posting a new chapter each Monday. Things are moving for Beth and Daryl in this chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter Four

"Can I ask you a question?" Beth inquired while she was taking a break from running. She and Daryl had been at their training for about a week. "Sure." Daryl grunted at Beth wondering what she wanted to know. So far she had followed his rules down to the letter and hadn't questioned him at all.

"Why don't you want me to try and speed up my running? Why do you have me moving at the same pace?" Daryl was surprised at her question, really not expected her to be inquisitive, but he shouldn't have been Hershel was right, Beth did have some fire in her not to mention brains and creativity, all of which were critical to surviving.

"Walkers don't move fast, but they also don't wear out near as quick as we do. They can last a lot longer. If you encounter a heard you need stamina not speed to get you away." He told her. Beth nodded. "So that's why I run so much. It makes sense. The more I run the longer periods of time my body can handle moving. So I will last longer."

"I thought that might have been your reasoning." Beth finished and Daryl nodded seemingly deep in thought but all he said was, "Get movin' Greene." As he gestured back down the field to watch Beth begin her second mile.

It occurred to Daryl that he could spend time mentally training Beth as well as physically training her. While Beth ran he started to plan in his head a way he could try and get her to think through problems and come up with solutions. "Do your sit-ups and then you are done." Daryl told Beth as she ran over finishing her last lap. Daryl lowered his body to the ground as Beth plopped down next to him getting ready to do her sit-ups.

As Beth began her sit-ups her feet began their normal betrayal of sliding forward away from her body. "Greene." Daryl chided with a firm face. "Sorry." Beth pushed out still out of breathe from running. This was something the pair had gone through during almost all of their training sessions. Beth's feet did not want to stay where they were supposed to and Daryl couldn't stand it.

Slowly but surly Beth's feet began to slip again. Without thinking Daryl slide over closer to Beth moving his knees to rest on Beth's feet. "There." He said with a slight smirk. "Let's see those stupid feet move now." Beth paused for a millisecond surprised by the unnecessary physical contact, but finding it surprisingly comforting. With a glance up at Daryl's face, Beth continued to do her sit-ups finding them both harder and easier with the aid of the red neck.

As she finished Daryl still had a far away look on his face that he had been sporting since she questioned him earlier. After standing he shot his hand out to help Beth up. A small smile crossed Beth's face as she grabbed his hand. It felt warm and smooth in her own.

Beth was again surprised at the physical contact, but didn't really think that Daryl knew he was doing it. She had noticed how he pulled away from physical contact, even from Carol and Rick. Beth wasn't sure why, but was glad she seemed to be breaking through his carefully crafted barrier, even if Daryl didn't know it himself.

"Thanks." Said Beth gently dropping her arm and brushing off her butt from where she had been sitting.

That night at dinner Daryl sat down next to Beth sliding into the chair with a quiet plop. Most everyone was used to this arrangement now and hardly batted an eye to see the pair sitting next to each other.

However tonight Daryl did something a little out of character when he turned in his chair to talk to Beth saying, "I wanna talk to ya." and catching most of the table a little off guard. Maggie looked over at the pair concerned that Daryl might be too harsh with Beth.

Rick raised a questioning eyebrow concerned that Daryl was going to yell at the girl in front of everyone. While Carol eyed him wearily trying to get his attention from across the table saying, "Hey Daryl…" but the rest of the sentence was lost on Daryl who was looking at Beth.

Nudging Beth with his foot to gain her attention when she didn't respond, Beth coughed and said, "Sure." though a mouth full of food. Daryl sent her a small smile before looking up. "What?" he questioned the table. Like that the spell was broken and they all went back to what they were doing before.

Daryl began to tell Beth about his last trip into town, a run that Daryl had gone on with Glenn and Maggie. Beth had heard the story the previous day from Maggie but listened intently to what Daryl was saying all of the same. "Maggie didn't expect the store to have a walker in it." Daryl finished with a lecturing glance over a Maggie. Turning his attention back to Beth, he asked, "What could Maggie or Glenn have done to get a jump on the walker?"

Beth looked thoughtfully at Daryl a crease forming between her eyes. "I think the best thing would have been for Maggie and Glenn to know that there was a walker in the store before they went in."

"Good." Daryl grunted how could they have done that? Surprised Beth looked up at Daryl. "Is there a way?" she questioned him. "Ya tell me." The archer shot back at the blonde. "I guess the walker heard the two of them." Beth said thinking out loud. "I wonder if there is a way for us to hear the walkers. Not like we can put bells on all of them." Beth said with a shrug still thinking.

"Think along those lines." Daryl instructed. Beth nodded absentmindedly scooping her food into her mouth. While Beth was thinking Rick called Daryl's attention away. "We need to start thinking about a way to make the perimeter of the farm more secure." Rick told Daryl. "Lotta land ta cover." Daryl replied glancing over at Hershel to see how he felt about the group making such a big change to his property.

Personally, Daryl thought it was a mistake to waist resources doing that. The farm wasn't going to last, eventually as their group grew a heard would get wind of them and over run the farm. Either that or another group would. The farm, while nice (and Beth's home said the small voice in the back of his head.) wasn't conducive to defend itself.

"We should try and build a tower so we can see father out -" Rick got out before Beth cut him off. "Draw them to us." She shouted a little louder than she intended. All conservations with Rick left his head as Daryl turned back towards Beth, nodding at her to continue.

With a small blush Beth continued in a slightly softer voice. "I think that they should have done was tried to draw the walker towards them so that Maggie or Glenn wouldva had the advantage over the walker." Daryl nodded. "How?" he prompted her. "Well best I can figure they should have gotten the walkers attention some other way by one of them creating a distraction and the other sneaking up behind the walker." Beth finished face falling a little. "But that only answers half of the question."

"What kind of distraction could they have made?" Daryl asked. "I donno, you said that they are drawn towards noise. But it couldn't be too loud or every walker around would have been attracted." She mused. "They could have hit somethin' with a gun or the hilt of a knife."

Pleasantly surprised at how quickly she was getting to where Daryl wanted her mind to go, he asked, "What would they hit?" Almost like a literal light bulb going off, the answer came to Beth. "That's what they should have done to check for a walker." She said with a laugh.

"What?" asked Glenn potatoes falling out of his mouth. Beth blushed and realized that when she loudly cut Rick off most of the table had been listening to see if she could solve Daryl's problem.

Daryl sent Beth a small smile and cocked his head towards Glenn, telling Beth to explain what he should have done. "When you first got to the store you should have hit the window or door or some surface you could see through before going in."

"Why?" asked Carol not following Beth's logic. Hesitating Beth looked at Daryl who told her to, "keep going." pride clearly evident in his voice.

"Walkers are attracted to noise right? It's how they know that we are there, well that and our smell. But it wouldnta been able to hear or smell Maggie or Glenn when they were outside the store, it wasn't until they went inside that the walker realized they were there." Beth supplied quickly, speech-increasing speed with every word.

"Maggie." She suddenly turned to her older sister. "If you and Glenn would have stayed outside and hit the window with your gun, knife or whatever really the walker would have been drawn towards the noise and come to where it heard the banging. Then you would have seen it before it saw you, or really before it could get to you and one of you could have gone 'round back and snuck up on it." Beth finished proudly, before leaning back into her chair and looking at Daryl.

"May be some hope for ya after all Greene." Said Daryl with a genuine smile. Which made Beth's heart swoon.

The next two weeks continued in a similar manor, the only change was that now Daryl had started running with her. "Can't let you be in better shape than me." Was his response to Beth raised eyebrow and questioning look. Shaking her head she moved her long blonde ponytail over her left shoulder and started to run. "You comin'?" she called as she continued down towards the barn."

They ran together twice a day, and at dinner Daryl would rotate between telling Beth about a run he had gone on or a trip in the woods he had taken hunting. Then other times, like the first night, Daryl would pose a question to Beth and make her come up with a solution.

Together they developed a routine that suited them both working around their other responsibilities. While Beth enjoyed the time with Daryl, she had taken to getting in a pre work out in her room in the early mornings before she got ready for the day. Unsure exactly why Beth was working hard to impress Daryl.

She loved the times he sent her a small smile or commented on how well she was doing. It was so un Daryl and Beth craved the attention from the man. Daryl aside the exercise had begun to pay off. She found that not only did she have more energy to get through the day (and sleep better at night) Beth could easily run 2.5 – 3 miles with out a problem.

True to his word, Rick had built a make shift watchtower towards the edge of the Greene's property. Daryl had just climbed up to the top when he saw Rick shifting from foot to foot looking nervous. "Ya okay?" Daryl asked addressing the man who hadn't yet noticed his arrival. "Just thinkin'" said the ex sheriff.

"You're right about Shane." Rick said. "He is becoming more volatile and dangerous. Almost got Andrea killed on that last run." Daryl grunted in agreement. "I – I didn't want to believe it, but I do think he is plannin' something to get me out of the way." Daryl agreed. Shane had been pushing Rick hard lately and Daryl was surprised he hadn't exploded yet. "It's gonna come down to either me or him isn't it?" Rick asked more to himself than to Daryl.

"Need ta go talk to Lori." Rick told Daryl changing topics the truth still lay heavy in the air. "I got this ya can go." Daryl said giving Rick a critical gaze. The sun had long set and night was almost in full swing. "T-Dog will be here to take our about 12:00a." Daryl nodded and Rick began to climb down.

Setting his gun down and swinging his cross bow off his body Daryl pulled out a rag and began to clean both weapons. This was a responsibility that most people he knew neglected. They wouldn't work right, if you don't take care of them. And Daryl's crossbow was his most prized possession. Now that Merle was gone his bow and his bike were the two most important things he owned.

Daryl's shift was coming to a close. It had been relatively uneventful. Daryl began to gather his weapons when he saw T-Dog making his way towards the tower. "Slow night?" T-Dog questioned as he reached the top of the tower. "Ya." Daryl grunted. "Most exictin' things been a raccoon." Daryl said.

 _BANG!_ Both men jumped turned to face the farmhouse. The front door had slammed open banging against the wall. "IT'S YOUR FAULT!" a voice hollered floating easily through the quiet night. "DO YOU THINK I GIVE A DAMN?" a slightly higher pitched voice shouted back just as loud. "NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY." Said the same voice as a blonde head came bursting through the front door, storming away from the house.

"Shit." Said T-Dog. "Was that Beth?" "Yeah." Daryl grunted already moving to go down the tower to follow the blonde. Daryl wasn't sure why, but he knew that he needed to follow her.

When he had reached the ground Beth was nowhere to be seen. Taking a guess he figured she would have gone to her swing. He had found her there on several occasions, but had never approached her while she was there.

Daryl understood that everyone needed a place that was his or her own, and he hadn't wanted to take that away from Beth by letting her know he knew about it. Silently moving towards Beth's tree as he had been referring to it, Daryl saw the blonde already swinging several feet off the group face hard and bright red.

The wind whipped her hair back and forth as Beth swung through the air. Daryl watched her for a few minutes, not quiet ready to let Beth know that he was there. He wanted to be there for her, but still wasn't sure how he should be or if he should be at all. Beth slowed to almost a stop looking up towards the sky.

Daryl knew that soon the tears would come, because that's how he knew Beth worked. Then they did. Beth looked down and her eyes met Daryl's bright blue and overflowing. Then they fell. Hot and fast tear poured down her face as her body racked from the intensity of her sobs. Daryl didn't think, he didn't speak, he did the only thing that felt natural in the situation.

Beth felt two strong arms enclose around her body and push her backwards into a standing position, while her butt remained on the swing, the arms tightening around her now that she was positioned at an easier angle to reach. Beth flung her arms around his waist and buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed.

And Daryl let her.

As Beth calmed down she became aware of just how close they were. She saw how tight Daryl's back was and seemed to relax as she removed her arms from around him and lifted her head.

"Sorry." Beth crocked as Daryl gently pulled back and away from the blonde taking a few steps back. Seemingly more comfortable with the space in between them now Daryl said, "It's okay. Nothin' wrong with getting' mad and letting it out."

Beth let out a slight chuckle she couldn't help. "How did you find me anyway?" she questioned him. "Was I that loud?" "Naw." Said Daryl. "Weren't too bad." Beth gave him a watery smile absentmindedly playing with her hair.

"How did you know where I would go? I didn't think anyone knew 'bout this place." Daryl gave Beth a sheepish look before rubbing the back of his neck and looking down.

"I saw ya here one day after I had come back huntin'." He explained, leaving out the part where he had watched her swing here on several occasions since then. "Had a feelin' you would come back here." He shrugged.

If Beth believed anything different she didn't say, but instead asked Daryl a question. "Mind not telling my Daddy or Maggie about this place? I don't mind you here, but I don't want the rest of them to know." She told him honestly. "Sure." Daryl agreed.

"Wanna sit?" Beth asked scooting over to the far side of the swing. The platform had been made with a plank of wood that was about four feet long and two feet wide. Daryl moved towards the swing filling in the empty space next to her. "What happened?" he inquired.

Beth let out a laugh that was so unlike her normal sound. Daryl didn't like it, it sounded wrong on her. "Fuckin' Jimmy." Was her response. Daryl looked up sharply.

He told Patricia that I was leadin' him on and had broken his heart and he couldn't bear to spend another night on the farm. Told her I was makin' him leave and had poisoned Hershel and Maggie against him too." Beth shook her head.

"Apparently he took off a few hours ago and Patricia is worried sick. Says it's my fault, that I was a bitch to him and that I need to figure out a way to get him back as punishment for the way I was treatin' him and lying to my Daddy." Daryl growled. He couldn't believe that woman. He had been a little ticked that Beth made her Pa promise not to kick him off the farm. How could this lady be so stupid?

"I told her I didn't give a damn, if he was stupid enough to leave on his own then good riddance. Truthfully, I'm glad he is gone. I was starting to worry about what he might do." Beth admitted. This caught Daryl off guard.

"What are ya talkin' 'bout?" he asked. "I don't know. Nothing really I guess. Just a feelin' I had like he was gonna do something…bad." She finished lamely. "But he's gone now." Beth said after a while. "Yeah, he's gone now." Said Daryl repeating Beth both lost in their own heads, moving gently back and forth on the swing.

"Thank you." Said Beth. "What for?" asked Daryl a slight blush evident in his cheeks. "Being there or here earlier. You didn't have to, but you did so thank you." Beth leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. Beth felt Daryl jump slightly at the pressure, but she did it anyway. Giving him a small smile Beth stood up and walked back towards the farmhouse a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Then it hit her. The reason she wanted to impress Daryl, why she was so determined to figure him out, and more than anything why she was so happy he had come to comfort her. Beth Greene liked Daryl Dixon. The thought hit her like a ton of bricks and she faltered mid step.

Unsure about how she felt about this revelation Beth glanced over her shoulder back to where she had left the archer. There he sat looking at her retreating back, hand hovering over the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him.

In Beth's mind that reaction settled the matter. She, Beth Greene liked Daryl Dixon and as far as she was concerned, that was just fine.

15


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Jimmy had been gone for almost a week, and the residents of the farm had mixed feelings about the subject. Some like Daryl (and Beth thought not so secretly Hershel) were glad to have seen the last of him. Neither were particularly big fans of the young man to begin with.

Some like Dale, Glenn and Lori seemed torn. They were glad that Beth was happier, anyone who had known the couple long knew it wasn't the best of relationships, but they still seemed concerned for the boy's safety and wished he had stayed.

Then others like Patricia and surprisingly Carol seemed to be angry with Beth, blaming her for the boy leaving. Carol's anger came as a surprise but Beth wondered if losing Jimmy was a reminder of her daughter. She didn't have a choice when Sophia left, and loosing another person this way might have been too much for Carol to handle.

Patricia on the other hand wasn't so surprising. She had a tender spot of the boy from the start. Always eating up Beth and Jimmy's lies a little to quickly after something would happen. Patricia would pull Beth aside and tell her that Jimmy didn't mean what he did; he was still young and learning. Beth should be a better girlfriend and attend to his needs. After all, Jimmy was an orphan now and it was their job to be his family and look after him.

Her attitude towards Beth only got worse after Otis died. It seemed to Beth that she clutched all the more tighter to Jimmy. It wasn't surprising really, while the Greene's cared for her, like Jimmy she wasn't really a part of their family. It was natural that they formed a bond.

No matter how they felt about Jimmy's disappearance almost everyone seemed to think that Beth had something to do with it one way or another. Which couldn't have been further from the truth.

Beth chewing on her bottom lip and pushed all thoughts of Jimmy out of her head for now. She walked downstairs to collect the laundry she had been putting off for far to long. If it sat outside for too much longer she would have to start over and wash them again. With a sigh Beth walked outside basket in hand to collect the clothes.

When she made it to the close line, Beth was met with an icy glare from Patricia. 'Great.' Beth thought to herself, 'Here we go again.' But on the outside she smiled and tried to treat the older lady with the kindness and respect that had been drilled into her since birth. "Hey." Said Beth to the older lady with a small smile. "Need any help?" she asked.

"Hmpf." Came the reply. "So, you can help people can't ya? Must only do it when it suits you." She spat at Beth. "Patricia." Beth began. "For the last time, I didn't tell Jimmy to leave. I never wanted him to go off on his own. I just didn't want to be his girlfriend anymore. Why won't you believe me?" Patricia glared at Beth before collecting the last of her things and walking away. Beth scowled at her retreating back.

She had just about enough from the older lady and was thrilled when Hershel called everyone inside to announce that their visitors would be moving into the house. Finally a distraction that might keep Patricia busy for a while and her rude looks at bay.

Sitting in the dining room with a basket of untouched clothes in front of her, Beth sat with her feet pulled underneath her chewing on her lip. "Yer gonna chew through that thing if you keep that up." Daryl commented as he walked into the room and pulled out a chair next to Beth. "Hey." Beth responded.

"Those clothes aint gonna fold themselves ya know." Said Daryl smirking over at Beth. "Eh, maybe they will if I wait long enough." She replied a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. Daryl noticed she had been doing that a lot recently…smiling and he also noticed that he liked it. Smiling suited Beth.

"Aint that your job, doin' domestic stuff?" asked Daryl with a classic smirk. To which Beth replied by wadding up a shirt to throw at his face. Daryl easily caught the shirt. "You play dirty." He teasingly told her.

Beth smiled before saying, "Why don't you do it? I'm sick of looking at clothes." Daryl surprised Beth with his counter offer. "I will help you, if you do somethin' for me." Intrigued Beth looked critically at Daryl. "Deal." With that done the pair got to work.

"Help me carry these to my room." Beth told Daryl standing up and collecting and arm full of clothes. "Here I was feeling bad fer ya and we were folding your clothes?" Daryl accused her. "Calm down there buddy, I will help you with yours if you ever decide to wash them." Beth said with a grin not takin' Daryl seriously. "Come on." Said Beth putting one pile in Daryl's hands and taking the other in her own.

The two walked upstairs and into Beth's bedroom, where Daryl hesitated at the door before walking all the way in. "Here." he pushed the pile at Beth when her hands were free, shifting his weight back and forth between his two feet.

"Lori's gonna have the baby soon." Said Daryl desperately trying to think of something to say. "Yeah, Daddy says he thinks she will have the baby sometime late tonight, or early tomorrow mornin' I guess." Beth said. "Good, maybe all of her screaming will finally stop." Daryl said without concern for the pain Lori must be feeling. Beth laughed. "I gotta get to guard duty." Said Daryl awkwardly lingering in the room. "Thanks for the help." Said Beth.

"Hey, Daryl." Beth called to the red neck that had just successfully made it out of her room. "Hmm?" Daryl grunted after walking back towards Beth and stopping in her doorway. "You're movin' in ta the house with everyone else right?" asked the blonde shyly as she again chewed on her lower lip.

Daryl looked over at Beth, and titled his head to the side. "Yes." He said after a moment. "Good." said Beth turning around and giving the man some space. She knew he wasn't comfortable with personal questions and Beth was afraid something in her tone might have given away her alternative motive for asking.

Not long after midnight Daryl heard cheers erupt from the house and then silence. He assumed Lori had finally given birth to the baby. He was secretly glad that there was going to be a baby. He had always been fond of children. They represented hope in Daryl's mind, hope and a chance to start fresh.

But Daryl found it odd that he house was so quiet and wondered what happened. Thinking of going to find Beth and ask her when he his was over, he was surprised when he spotted her blonde head exiting the house and heading towards him.

"Is the baby okay?" asked Daryl quickly after seeing Beth's face. Beth smiled weakly, "Yeah, she's fine. But Lori...Lori is bleeding out and Daddy can't stop it." Said Beth wrapping her arms around her middle. Daryl stared back at her blankly before scooting over and allowing Beth to come and sit next to him in the tower.

After a few quiet minutes Beth jumped wildly grabbing onto Daryl tightly after hearing a single shot ring out into the night. When her heart returned to a normal pace, Beth's brain caught up with the situation and she realized that Lori had died. She had been shot to prevent her from becoming a walker. Beth couldn't help it, she cried.

Tears flowing down her face, Beth cried for Carl, Rick, and the baby who would never know her mom. Beth cried for herself because she understood what living in this world with out a mom was like. Beth cried and Daryl let her. Beth cried until she fell asleep. Not long Daryl who hadn't slept in far too long, fell asleep too. The pair slept, leaning against opposites of the guard tower, each feeling content and safe with the other.

Beth came in late having just finished grooming the horses in the barn and cleaning out their stalls when she slid into the empty seat next to Daryl. "Sorry I'm late." Beth shot towards no one specifically "got caught up with the horses." Daryl grunted and turned back towards his food, finishing rather quickly. "Meet me when you're finished." Daryl told Beth who had just pulled a small plate towards her and nodding her head.

Portions were getting smaller and there was not a shortage of mouths that needed to be feed. Beth sighed going short again. Finishing her small portion rather quickly Beth excused herself to go and get some water before training with Daryl.

It was hard to be near Rick and Carl. The former had taken it especially hard. Rick, had locked himself away for most of the days that had followed hardly even looking at his new baby, much less holding her. Beth, Maggie, and Carl had spent the majority of their free time with the new baby. Even Daryl had put in more time with the little girl than Rick.

Beth made her way into the kitchen still deep in thought about the baby, when a voice interrupted her thinking. "So you dumped Jimmy for that Red Neck huh?" said Patricia with her arms crossed leaning against the counter near the sink.

"That's what it was really about. Wasn't it? We shoulda seen it comin'. I see the way you look at him you know." Said Patricia accusing Beth, and so did Jimmy, he told me before he left. "It 'aint like that." Beth shot back at him, pushing her way to the sink to fill up her bottle. "And it wouldn't be any of your business if it was." She added firmly. "We'll see." Said Patricia

Beth growled at the lady anger rising in her before picking up her water and huffing outside to meet Daryl. 'Who cares if she did like Daryl, it wasn't the reason that she dumped Jimmy.' Beth thought to herself. 'Dumped Jimmy because Jimmy is a prick.' Beth muttered.

Anger radiating through her body Beth started running pushing all of her anger and energy into running Jimmy's face into the ground. Turning the curve at full speed Beth came to a grinding halt when she heard an angry voice yelling just inside the woods past the barn where she was running.

"You're leaving?" Carol hollered at Daryl. "You can't just do that! We need you here. I need you here. You could have talked to me. Why won't you talk to me?" Carol asked hysterically. "I worked so hard to make sure you didn't build your walls up around me. What happened?" She asked angrily.

"They weren't ever down." Was Daryl's gruff response. Beth was unsure of what she came upon. Clearly having missed the beginning of their heated discussion. She knew that Daryl wouldn't appreciate being over heard, but something kept her rooted to the spot. What did Carol mean, Daryl was leaving? He wouldn't really do that would he? Not with out saying anything?

Beth realized now she was mirroring Carol's exact words in her head. Daryl didn't owe her anything, and as much as it would sadden Beth if he left with out so much as a goodbye, that was included Daryl not owing Beth an explanation if he wanted to leave. Beth realized that if Daryl chose to leave or stay, it really wasn't any of her business. No matter how much she wanted it to be.

"'Sides it aint none of your business who I do or don't talk to and where I go. I like to be left alone." Daryl sneered the last bit at Carol. "Come on Daryl, do you really think I'm stupid?" Carol shot back in an angry tone that quickly melted into hysterics.

"Do you really think it would ever work? She is a child, I'm right here. I know you. Don't shut me out. Not after Sophia. Don't do that!" She almost pleaded reaching out to touch his shoulder.

Daryl took a step back shrugging her off. "You stupid?" he shouted at her. "I don't owe you anythin' and I don't need nothin' from you." Daryl finished before grabbing two packs off the ground and storming away through the woods towards the water pump.

Darting out from behind the barn Beth sprinted as fast as she could to the other side. She had just barely beat Daryl as he came stomping around the corner. Beth came to a spluttering stop in front of him. "How far can ya run?" he shot out at Beth in way of greeting. "3 miles until I need a break." Said Beth hoping she interpreted his question correctly.

Daryl nodded and thrust the pack towards her. "Let's go." Looking at Beth's hesitation Daryl growled out "What you waitin' for girl. Put it on. Good Lord." Beth glanced back towards the house clearly torn. "Wha you rather stay here?" he asked.

"No, it's just my Daddy…" "Already cleared it with your Pa." said Daryl turning on his heel and walking towards the woods. "'S up to you." With out any further hesitation Beth threw the bag over her shoulder and ran to catch up with the angry red neck.

The pair walked in silence for a while before Daryl spoke up. "'Aint you gonna ask me where were goin'?" "I figured you would tell me when you were ready." Beth supplied. "You said no complaining." She added like it settled the matter.

Daryl gazed at her thoughtfully before picking up the pace, "We were gonna start the next part of your trainin' but first we got a pit stop ta make 'bout 3 miles out." "That's the highway?" asked Beth excitedly. "Yeah" Daryl supplied "left something there that I need ta pick it up."

 **A/N - Thank you all so much for the comments and follows and favorites! I am so glad that y'all are enjoying the story. I can't wait to show you what happens next for Daryl and Beth. Thank you all again so much!**

 **Also, I am still fairly new to the Bethyl fan fiction world, so if you have ANY good suggestion for story to read I would love to hear them!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

As the highway emerged into sight Daryl put a hand out to stop Beth touching her gently on the shoulder before looking around with his bow drawn up ready to use should the need arise. Deciding the area was clear Daryl crept out onto the high way looking into cars for walkers who might be lurking with Beth silently mimicked his movements a few feet behind him.

"It's important to make sure that ya look everywhere. Ya don't want ta be surprised. Take some time at the beginnin' to search before you go flyin' in. " Daryl told Beth in a calm voice. "The first thang you should do in a new area is look at ways you can get out and others can git in." Beth took the advice to heart and started to glance around, unsure what she was looking for beside the obvious answer, walkers.

The pair darted around a few more cars before Daryl lowered his crossbow. "See anythin' interesting?" Daryl asked Beth. Thinking for a moment and glad she had been paying attention Beth replied, "Not to much, but two or three of the cars we past had some fabric stuck in the door. Not sure what it means, but nothin' else looked out of place." She finished.

Daryl shot her a quick smile proud that she had noticed the fabric. "I think it means that someone is watching this area, markin' cars and stuff that they can use." said Daryl with a little unease creeping into his voice. "What else might it be for?" Beth asked noting the tone in his voice.

"What?" Daryl asked her surprised. "You think it might be for somethin' else too. What?" Beth pushed. "Donno really, I just don't got a good feelin' about it, is all." Beth nodded accepting his answer. It was more than she had expected to get out of him anyway.

"What are we lookin for?" asked Beth ready to get this trip over with and at least be in the shelter of the woods if not back on the farm. "This." said Daryl with a smile walking up to a bike laying on its side and looking a little weather worn. Beth shot him a knowing smile when Daryl loving ran his hand down the length of the bike, before setting it up right and opening the bag on the left side, pulling out a knife in a small leather holder with a long cord.

"Here" Daryl grunted thrusting the knife at Beth. Beth reached out brushing Daryl's hand with her own before clasping the knife and awkwardly turning it over in her hands.

Suddenly Beth's ears seemed to pick up, a deep churning sound coming from the distance. "We aint expecting anybody from the farm are we?" she asked nervously. Daryl froze listening hard. "No we aint." He replied before shoving Beth down hard on the ground next to him. "Ahh!" hissed Beth as Daryl pulled her to him and his hand slipped over her mouth.

Pushing them closer behind one of the cars surrounding them. Daryl looked down and cringed at the blood coming out from Beth's knee where he had pulled her down. A strange twinge of regret or guilt that he hadn't felt in a while hit him in the stomach.

The sound of the engine became louder as the car approached, and then the engine cut off. Shaking Beth leaned back grabbing Daryl's hand to assure her that he was still there, after a moment he squeezed Beth's hand, giving her the confidence she needed. "Stay still and quiet." He whispered in her ear. Beth nodded.

Three men stepped out of the car slamming the door shut behind them. "Told you they'd still be here." Said one man with a strong southern drawl. Quickly Beth tensed wondering how the men knew she and Daryl were there. "Yeah, guess so. Looks like whoever left these are long dead." Said the second man in a low voice.

That didn't sound like they knew she and Daryl were there. Maybe they were the men who had been marking the cars. "Makes our jobs easier at any rate." He added with out feeling walking and weaving around cars.

Beth felt Daryl's hand tighten around her own. She wasn't sure exactly what these men would do if they found out she and Daryl were hiding, but she had feeling that she didn't want to know, judging by the way Daryl tucked himself in closer to Beth, pushing her more into the car he didn't either.

One man walked towards the car they had first hidden behind, stopping and looking down at his feet. "What?" he managed to get out looking at the puddle of blood he had stepped in and pulling his gun up ready to fire. "Well boys," said the man "I think we got ourselves a live one." as he proceeded to slowly walk around the car towards Beth and Daryl's hiding place.

Beth felt Daryl gently remove his hand from her grasp before leaning back with his bow ready to fire, as the man turned the corner. Without any hesitation Daryl shot his foot pinning him to the ground. The man screamed in pain, as Daryl grabbed Beth's arm and yanked her towards the motorcycle that Daryl had previously been looking through.

Raising his bow to shoot again Daryl hit the second man who had come running in the thigh before swinging his bow across his chest and firing up the motorcycle he now sat on. "Come on." He shrieked at Beth in a high-pitched voice reaching out a hand towards her. "Move!"

As if she had suddenly awoken from a spell Beth sprang forward running with a surprising speed towards Daryl and flinging herself behind him landing with a thump, just as the first man pulled the arrow out of his foot and began shouting at the others to get the in car.

Without waiting to see what would happen Daryl speed off down the highway back tense and face hard. Behind him he felt Beth clinging with all of her might to his back, her head pressed between his shoulder blades.

They drove for what felt like hours in the opposite direction of the farm, but what was probably only an hour or so before Daryl diverged off the high way and down a back road coming upon a neighbor in a town boarding Beth's.

Daryl slowed as he drove up and down the streets looking for a place to stay, finally settling on a small guesthouse attached to the side of a larger home with a good vantage point of both the road and the woods behind it.

"We can't go home tonight can we?" asked Beth although it came out as more of a statement. "Naw, not tonight and probably not tomorrow." Daryl replied pulling into the driveway. "Come on, we need to find somewhere to hid the bike." Beth nodded her consent trying her best to gracefully peel herself off the motorcycle.

When she managed to clear the seat and take a few steps her left leg quickly gave out from under her weight violently shaking. "Shit." Came Daryl's reply. "Shouldn't that be my line?" asked the blonde with a slight laugh before her face fell again.

Daryl looked taken aback at Beth's comment, all of the ways he thought she might react that had not been what he was expecting. Unsure of how to reply and against his better judgment a small smile slipped out of his lips as he walked towards the blonde sprawled out on the ground.

Daryl extended his hand towards Beth and helped to haul the girl up from the ground before gently depositing her near the entrance to the guesthouse. "Don't move and stay quiet." Said Daryl repeating his instructions from earlier before going to hide the bike.

Seemingly satisfied with the bike's hiding locationo9 Daryl walked towards the door kicking it open crossbow up and ready. Reaching over to the wall he slapped the wood several times with his bow then waited. When nothing happened Daryl glanced back over his shoulder at Beth before nodding to her and moving inside checking and clearing each room.

With a groan Beth tried her best to haul herself up with the support of the doorframe, leaning heavily on the frame and resting her head while some of the pain subsided. "Clear." She heard Daryl grunt before she began dragging herself inside, leg shaking the whole way.

Daryl walked back into the house after dropping something on the counter with a thud before pushing a large couch against the door they entered. Looking around she noticed that he had blocked off access to most of the guesthouse leaving only one bedroom the kitchen and the living room open.

Ever mindful of Daryl's lessons and wanting an excuse to think of something beside the pain in her leg, Beth began looking around the room to determine ways they could get in and out if things went badly.

Upon hearing a loud scraping noise, Beth looked towards the kitchen to see a chair scraping the floor as Daryl dragged it towards her, stopping in front of Beth and the chair she was sitting on.

Daryl let out a jet of hot air before plopping down on the chair and pulling his pack off his back, then reaching around Beth to help her do the same. "Don't go nowhere without a first aid kit if ya can help it." Daryl said to Beth while pulling out a compact first aid kit from her bag he had helped tug off her arms.

Tenderly he lifted Beth's leg onto his lap to have better access to her bleeding knee. "Hurt a lot?" he inquired with a grunt. "Nothing I can't handle." said Beth setting her mouth but still letting out a small hiss when Daryl pressed down on her knee.

"Gotta cut your pants off above your knee so I can clean it." He supplied taking out his knife and ripping a neat line above her injury, pulling the fabric all the way around. "Damn." Said Daryl looking down at Beth's bloody knee. "It's swollen for sure. Beth let out a small groan, "You owe me a new pair of jeans."

Daryl cocked an eyebrow at her an amused look creeping onto his face. No one had been brave enough to tell Daryl that he owed them something. Well, no one who wasn't related to him to anyway. Daryl looked down at the girl and found that he didn't quite mind. She had balls and that was all right by him.

"I'm gonna have to clean it an' I'm warin' ya it's gonna hurt like a bitch." Said Daryl pulling out a bottle of alcohol and a rag he had found in the kitchen. Immediately Beth's hand flew to grip Daryl's shoulders. She felt him tense for a second, but make no move to pull away. "Ready?" he asked and Beth nodded.

Beth had never felt so much pain before. The rubbing alcohol on her knee torn through her flesh felt like fire. Squeezing Daryl's shoulders with all of her might she was determined not to scream or verbally let him know how much pain she was in. "What's that supposed to mean anyway?" asked Beth through clenched teeth. "Huh?" asked Daryl concentrating on her knee. "Hurt." Beth started sucking in her breath. "Hurt like a bitch." She finished asking. Daryl gave a small chuckle, "I donno."

Looking up at her set face and clinched hands Daryl saw Beth's determination was beginning to falter. He wasn't sure why but when their blue eyes met he felt compelled to try and ease the pain if only a little, it was after all his fault she got hurt.

As he continued to work he decided that maybe this talking thing was a little distracting, and with that in mind Daryl started to tell Beth the first story that popped into his mind.

"One night when I was 'bout 16 I was laying up on the roof of my house when I heard Merle pulling up the drive. He had just gotten back a few days earlier from jail." "Merle," Beth interrupted with her lips tight together. "That's your brother right?" "Yeah." Said Daryl as he began to pull rubble out of Beth's knee that had been stuck there from her fall.

"Anyway Merle comes up to join me on the roof bringin' a bottle with him. We passed it back and forth until we were both shit faced, talkin' and laughin'. Then I hear this horse galloping around his paddock a little ways over. I had always been fascinated by horses but hadn't really ever been 'round 'em. So Merle tells me if I want ta ride that horse ta go ride that horse.

Still not sure how I managed it, but I flung myself up on that horse and rode him for a glorious five seconds before he bucked me off. I fell off and the horse came down on my knee. Couldn't walk for a week." Finished Daryl with a small smile as he began to wrap up Beth's knee.

"That really happen?" asked Beth not sure if believed him or not. "Got the scar to prove it." Said Daryl finishing up with her knee. Beth filed that information away for later. 'Maybe I can get him ta show me sometime.' Thought Beth. Surprised she wondered where that thought had come from.

"Here I found this outside in the freezer it will help with the swelling, keep it on ya knee." The pair sat in silence for a few minutes Daryl packing away his kit before Beth worked up the courage to ask, "Can I see it?" Daryl looked at Beth for a minute wondering what she was on about.

Understanding dawned on him when he realized that Beth probably wanted to see the scar that was on his knee from that stupid horse. Before answering he asked, "What you wanna see my scar for anyway?" Beth shrugged. "You don't gotta show me you know."

Daryl didn't respond verbally but after a minute proceeded to roll his left jean leg up past his knee. "We will have matching ones in no time.," said Daryl with a smirk. Almost glad to have somethin' that matched the blonde girl's and wasn't accompanied by an awful memory.

Looking over Daryl saw Beth attempt to cover a big yawn. "Come on, it's late." Said Daryl after clearing his throat you best get a good night's sleep. I'm gonna take watch for a little while first." "Kay. " Said Beth nodding; she hesitated wanting to add more but not wanting to look silly. "Can you—that is I mean would you help me to the bedroom, unless that's where you wanted to sleep." Beth asked in a rush.

"Naw, I will take the couch. Come 'ere." He replied standing up and hauling Beth up placing one arm under her knees and the other behind her neck. Instinctively Beth's arms flew up around Daryl's neck. "Mmm" said Beth letting her eyes close, exhaustion and her day finally catching up to her she fell asleep against Daryl's strong warm chest feeling protected before she even hit the bed.

Daryl gently set the blonde down the bed pulling the cover back over her small frame. Slowly he reached out his hand and pushed a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear, before exiting the room and pulling a chair up to the window watching the outside for anything that moved.

A few hours into his watch a slight whimper caught Daryl's attention and he whipped his head around to take sure that the girl was ok. She looked peaceful and had probably just bumped her bad knee. She had a long way to go before she was ready to look after herself, but Daryl could see the determination in her entire body.

Her focus, the way she challenged herself and didn't give up when things got hard. The past few weeks they had been training together showed him that this was a new Beth and against all odds Daryl wanted this Beth to live. Surprised but not unpleased at this revelation Daryl decided that he would be there to take care of Beth until she could take care of herself.

 _ **A/N Thank you so much for reading my story and your follows and comments! Y'all have been beyond great. I am really having a wonderful time writing this story and I look forward to each Monday when I can post a new chapter! I am currently working on Chapter 11 and I hope y'all like where I have taken this story. Thank you all again so much and I really hope that you have enjoyed this story, even if it's just half as much as I have enjoyed writing it! Until next Monday!**_

 _ **I promise there are lots of Bethyl romance moments to come! Hang in there with me.**_

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	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Beth bolted up right in the bed with a surge of pain for the umpteenth time that night Groaning she looked down towards her knee as the events of the previous day came back to her. Some of the blood had seeped through her bandage, and Beth knew she would need to clean and change the bandage before they left to go back to the farm.

The blonde looked over to see Daryl breathing gently, lying on the couch in the living room still fast asleep. Beth glared at the sleeping man from her place on the bed. 'Stupid.' She thought looking at Daryl sleeping soundly. The sun was just beginning to rise, lighten up the house, and Beth decided that meant it was as good of time as any to start the day as they were sure to have a long one ahead of them.

The girl hobbled out of bed and made her way to the living room, sitting down gently on the chair near the still sleeping red neck. Beth reached over fishing for her backpack pulling out the first aid kit before setting it on the arm of her chair. 'Okay, I can do this.' Beth thought to herself. Pulling gently she managed to successfully unwrap her bandage most of the way, but let out a small hiss as the end got stuck on her still raw knee.

Upon hearing a noise Daryl bolted upright, back tense, eyes darting around for danger. His face relaxed a bit when he turned to his side to see a very still blonde looking down at him, hands frozen at her knee.

"Sorry." She managed to squeak out. "Didn't mean ta wake ya up." Daryl rubbed his eyes for a minute taking in his surroundings before realizing that they were alone. "Couldnta done that somewhere else?" he asked in a grouchy voice annoyed that she had woken him up, but more annoyed that he hadn't woke sooner. Beth looked slightly taken aback from his tone, her face quickly becoming a bright red.

"Here, let me help you." Said Daryl feeling bad before scooting closer to Beth and pushing her hands away from her knee. With a quick firm tug the bandage broke free from Beth's knee. "Thanks." The blonde told him. Glad she didn't have to do it herself.

Inspecting her injured knee, Daryl decided it was a lot better than it had been yesterday and told her just as much. "Ya should be fine by tomorrow. May as well rest it as much as possible today." While he talked Daryl quickly and with skilled hands took the extra bandage and wrapped it around Beth's knee snugly. "Thanks Dr. Dixon." Said a sassy Beth patting him on the arm.

Daryl shrugged her hand away feeling a bit silly about her comment. "Don't call me that." He told her while shaking his head. Daryl got up and walked into the kitchen pulling out some canned food he had found the night before. "Here." He said sitting back down on the couch and passing Beth a can before popping the top off of his and digging in.

"Eat that whole thing." He instructed to Beth through a mouth full of peas. Beth raised an eyebrow at him but didn't question the directive. "If I'm gonna increase your trainin' ya need to get more meat on your bones." Daryl replied to her look with a smirk of his own.

"Really?" came the excited reply from Beth. "Eat." Was Daryl's only response. With a small smile Beth proceeded to do just that.

Beth woke up and looked around finding herself alone in the house. Willing herself not to panic and check outside for Daryl she got out of bed and moved towards the front door. Relief flooded through her when she saw him outside packing their things onto the pouches on the motorcycle. "Mornin'" Beth called from the doorway.

Daryl glanced at her over his shoulder and grunted before finishing their packing and walking towards Beth. "We never really got around to the point of our trip so we getting' an early start today so we can fit it all in." he told her in his best teacher voice. "Sounds good." Beth agreed.

Which is how Beth found herself, after breakfast, breaking into her fourth house of the day along side a very smug archer. "What's the first thing you do?" asked Daryl looking down at Beth as they walked up to their fourth house. Not giving him an answer, Beth walked up to the house before peaking inside a window.

"Looks clear she mumbled." But brought the knife up Daryl had given her "incase of emergencies only" to loudly bang on the window with the hilt.

After a few seconds only one weak and sickly looking walker managed to throw itself on the window trying with its remaining strength to break out and attack. "We can go around back and sneak up on him." Said Beth to Daryl who acknowledged the plan with a nod and small smile before moving around to the back of the house.

Once they had reached the back door Daryl once again paused and waited for Beth to decide what to do next. "Do ya mind kickin' the door in for us?" asked Beth gesturing to the solid door in front of them. "Why can't you do it?" he asked. Beth bit her lowered lip embrassed that she would have to admit that she couldn't do it and needed Daryl's help.

"I'll work on it when we get back to the farm." She settled on replying. Daryl grunted before kicking down the door and waiting for Beth to walk into the house. Carefully Beth stepped over the threshold. "Talk me through what yer thinkin' so I know it's right." Said Daryl from behind the blonde bow up and ready if the pair needed.

"I'm first lookin' to make sure there aren't any walkers immediately in this room, which was obvious really quickly. Now I am looking for ways to escape this room, if we needed to make a quick get away." Beth told him. Daryl nodded.

"Clear." Said Beth to indicate that the kitchen as safe and they could move to the next room. Daryl saw a flash of movement only a moment before Beth. "Left corner." Said Beth with only a slight shake in her voice as she moved aside to allow Daryl room to pass. It wasn't necessary, from his position behind Beth he shot and arrow through the walker's skull and the pair watched the body fall to the ground.

"Clear." Was Beth's only response before she walked into the living room, a second arrow zooming behind her head and killing the walker who had come to greet him at the window. Beth nodded at Daryl before walking towards the stairs. She once again used the hilt of Daryl's knife to bang on the stairs, alerting any walkers to their presence.

"How could we get out if we were trapped on the stairs?" Daryl asked Beth knowing how crucial having a back up plan always was to survival. "How many walkers?" she countered. Daryl paused thinking and then replied. "Not many two up top and one below…. But I'm injured and can't walk.

Beth nodded thinking hard. "I would have to kill at least one of the walkers. Probably the one downstairs." Beth added as an after thought. "I would take one of your arrows and wait until I was close to the walker and drive it through his head. Then I would break open a window using the knife hilt and help you through it and out of the house." Beth finished a slight smirk coming over her features.

"Of course, I would have to drive us off on your motorcycle seeing how you wouldn't be fit to drive." Finished Beth with a laugh. "That's assuming you were strong enough to break the window." Said Daryl with a smirk, as the smile on Beth's face fell off.

Beth finished clearing the upstairs with out any issues before the two began to raid the house for useable supplies. Beth started in the bathroom filling her pack with the meager hygiene products that she could find. "Score!" she shouted after finding an up opened box of tampons and quickly shoving them towards the bottom of her bag.

Finishing up she grabbed a few shirts for the guys back on the farm and went to go help Daryl clear out the kitchen. "We got lucky here." Said Daryl gesturing to all of the food he had found. "Guess that depends on your definition." Said Beth making a face at the pickles Daryl had found. "Yeah yeah princess. I found some stuff for ya too."

"Really?" asked Beth eyes lighting up in interest. Daryl responded by sliding over a six-pack of fruit cups. "Yes!" Said Beth with a grin packing the fruit cups away with care before starting on the other food. After the hype died down it occurred to Beth that Daryl had no reason to know she liked fruit cups so much. They hadn't had any of the farm while Daryl and the rest had been there.

"Daryl?" asked Beth. "Huh?" he grunted finishing his packing. "How did you know I liked these so much?" Beth asked chewing on her bottom lip. Daryl's hand went to the back of his neck like it did so often when he was uncomfortable. "What?" asked Beth having not understood what he said.

"Over heard you whinnin' to Maggie 'bout it awhile back. When I found them, I donno just thought…" Daryl tapered off. "You Daryl Dixon are an amazing person for finding these. Thank you." Said Beth with a smile.

Daryl looked over the young blonde and found himself for the second time today smiling because of her. He didn't think the fruit cups had been that big of deal. But he found that he was glad they were there, because they made Beth happy.

Feeling uncomfortable Daryl looked around outside through the kitchen windows. It was later than he excepted it to be. Not really wanting to go back, but knowing Beth's family and the group would be worried Daryl finished helping Beth pack for their return trip home.

Beth was nervous about their return trip home. Chewing on her bottom lip she slid onto the motorcycle behind Daryl and held on thinking about their time away. Would her Daddy be upset that they were gone so long? She hoped he hadn't been too worried. She had been with Daryl after all and that was about as safe as she could be.

Beth was sure she was in for a lecture from Maggie when she returned. Nothing was easy with Maggie. Beth knew it was because she cared, but Maggie was the worst at treating her like a kid. It was a habit she had never broken. Not even before everyone got sick and she graduated high school.

Shaking her head mentally, Beth put her family out of her mind. No sense in worrying too much about them, she would have to face the music soon enough. Instead another nagging feeling started to tear at her gut. The men they had run into two days before. What if they saw them heading back to the farm and tried to follow. Beth didn't know what she would do if she led them back to her family.

"Lord, don't hold so tight girl. You aint gonna fall off!" Daryl snapped at Beth about half way into the ride. Beth went ridged a little taken aback by his tone. "Sorry." She snapped back at him using a little more force than necessary and hitting him as she removed her hands and arms from around his waist and held onto the seat instead. "Don't be stupid. You're gonna fall off like that?" Daryl yelled at Beth.

"What's your problem?" Beth hollered at Daryl gripping tightly to the seat with her legs and holding on as best she could with her hands. "You are. Stop actin' like a baby." He threw back at her. Beth chose not to reply but he felt her hands move to clutch the bottom on his vest. "That's better." He said smugly adding a silent 'Safer.' in his head. While she remained silent, Daryl knew the blonde was giving him one of her best glares, and he was secretly glad he couldn't see it.

Daryl felt bad, but he couldn't stop snipping at Beth. He had felt so comfortable and at home while they were away with no one except Beth and himself to look after. It was one of the first times since he and Merle had joined the group that he felt free and at home. Now, as he drove closer to the farm, Daryl felt a heavy weight coming to rest of his shoulders. He didn't ask for it, and wasn't used to looking out for other people, but for some reason the residents on the farm counted on him. That knowledge made Daryl uncomfortable.

Now, Beth was mad at him and he felt a guilty sinking sensation in his stomach that he didn't like and wasn't used to feeling. What did he care if some blonde brat was pissed at him? He was a Dixon and Dixon's didn't care what people thought about them. 'But Beth's not people…she's Beth.' He thought

Daryl hesitated wanting to turn around and pull Beth's arms back around his middle, his hand flinching. Daryl sighed. It was probably for the best anyway, that she was angry with him. It would make things easier. Daryl knew they were already closer than they should be. Friends weren't something Daryl had. Daryl had Merle, and now he didn't. Now Daryl had himself and that was all that he needed. Or at least that's what I tell myself.' Said the little voice in the back of his head.

 **A/N A little drama for our lovely pair. Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! Thank you all again so much for your follows and reviews. Every time I get a review my stomach clinches and I get a so nervous and then I read all of your lovely reviews and it makes my day every single time. Love you all!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Being back on the farm was harder than it should have been Daryl thought. He knew it was important to stay with the group, still with so many people around he felt caged. Even so, he felt bound to these people.

Most of whom, like Beth, had no idea how to live in this new world and take care of themselves. But unlike Beth, Daryl didn't feel as strong of a pull to protect them.

He had mainly stayed with them up until this point out of convince. But he couldn't bring himself to leave now because of two people. Rick and Beth. Although he would never let either of the afore mentioned know.

Rick was an easy one for Daryl to figure out. All leaders needed a second and that was Daryl's purpose to Rick. Daryl could do the dirty work, Rick sought out Daryl's advice, and in return he gave Daryl a place to belong, and he made Daryl feel needed.

Beth was easy and complicated all at once. Daryl stayed because he wanted no needed to protect her. That was easy. The hard part was why he felt such a wanting and need to protect her.

Daryl was in no mood to think it over too much now, all he knew for sure was that he was in a shit mood and the look on Rick's face as he walked towards Daryl was only making it worse.

"We have a problem." Rick told the glaring red neck wasting no time on small talk as he came level with the man. Daryl grunted looking up briefly to acknowledge Rick before returning to his bow. Rick began pacing up and down in front of Daryl talking aloud but more to himself than anything else.

Daryl having unfortunately grown used to this behavior form Rick allowed him the time he needed to form what he wanted and contented himself to cleaning his bow and seething about the farm in silence.

Having had enough of Rick sof time and wanting to be left in peace Daryl spoke up. "You're gonna have ta do it and ya can't feel bad." Rick stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" he questioned turning to look at Daryl who had finished cleaning his bow and was now slinging it over his back.

"Shane, you're gonna have to kill him and you can't feel bad about it. He killed Otis and he is gonna try ta kill you. We both know it." Rick's head shot up to look at Daryl alarmed at his abruptness.

"I aint gonna stay 'round long enough ta see what happens when you're gone if you don't hurry up and do it." Said Daryl al little forcefully tired of having this conservation. "We have been over this before. Aint nothin' more to say 'bout it." He finished firmly with a scowl.

The two stared at each other, Daryl looking expectantly at the sheriff waiting for him to devise an excuse not to end the man. "You're right." Said Rick after moment, hand moving to his neck.

With a nod Daryl turned away from Rick and started walking towards the farmhouse feeling stifled again. The man found his feet walking the familiar path into the farm house and up to the stairs where he faltered.

Daryl knew Beth was up there, he had seen her head into the house after her run before Rick had come to speak with him. Unsure exactly why he suddenly felt compelled to do so, he desperately wanted to go and see Beth and make thing between them good again.

Daryl and Beth had both been incredibly busy since they returned to the farm. Daryl going on runs more frequently and Beth had been asked to spend most of her time with Little Ass Kicker.

As a result Daryl hadn't gotten to spend much time with the blonde, both frequently missing meals. More importantly, Daryl hadn't been able to make things right between him and Beth since they returned to the farm.

Daryl knew Beth had kept up her end of their bargain and continued her work outs, he had seen her doing them while was on guard duty or leaving for a run. But he also knew Beth was still mad at him, not that he blamed her. With only a moment more of hesitation Daryl started up the stairs intending to make things good again with the blonde.

"Hey." Daryl said alerting Beth to his presence as he leaned against her doorframe. "Hey." said Beth with a look of relief on her face glancing at the man in the doorway. "Come here." She continued while pulling little ass kickers hands from her wet hair.

"Judith was thrown at me the minute I finished my shower. Barely had time to get dressed before Carol high tailed it out of the house." Said Beth told the man while handing the little girl over to Daryl before promptly turning her back on the pair. Beth was still upset with him and she knew that seeing the two of them together would melt away any of the anger she still felt.

Daryl had been fascinated with his little ass kicker since the day she had been born. For some reason the baby had taken a liking to Daryl that no one could explain. Not that he (or anyone else) was complaining mind you. For the most part Judith hadn't been a fussy baby; even so he could tell that he, Carl, and Beth were the little girl's favorites.

Daryl frowned looking over at Beth. "What'd she do that for? Ya need your own time too." Daryl said while rubbing the baby's tummy referring to Beth's earlier statement.

Judith's little eyes had shut and she had fallen asleep in his arms. Beth turned to face Daryl a small smiling slipping onto her face without her permission at the pair of them. "I think it's hard for her 'cause of Sophia. I thought maybe a new baby would help her, but it seems to be makin' thing worse."

Daryl frowned. Carol didn't seem to have any problems being around Judith when he had been watching the little girl. "'Sides, I don't mind really, everyone has a job to do and I guess this is mine." said Beth.

Daryl looked over at Beth with a hard stare. The blonde was toweling her hair getting the ends dry before she could brush out the tangles.

"You really don't mind this bein' job your job? Babysittin' and all?" asked Daryl. "No, I don't mind." Said Beth quickly, but Daryl saw through her and made sure Beth knew it.

"Fine, I don't mind sometimes." She amended. "I meant what I said ya know." Beth told Daryl looking him straight in the eye. "I have a reason for wantin' to train and I wanna be more than just Judith's baby sitter."

The pair sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes both wanting to say something to the other, but not exactly having the words to say what they wanted to convene. "I didn't mean ta be such an ass when we were coming back to the farm." Daryl quickly mumbled to Beth.

Chewing on her lower lip Beth set her hairbrush down and looked at the man. "I just didn't understand where you were comin' from." Said Beth with wide eyes looking straight at the man, secretly glad that Daryl had brought it up.

"I thought we were fine, you didn't seem upset with him when he were in the houses." Daryl shrugged. "It wasn't 'bout you. Not really." Beth sighed figuring that was about as close to an apology she was going to receive and decided that she had enough of being upset with Daryl and wanted things to go back to the way they were before.

With a smile, Beth walked towards the Red Neck and the baby. "Thanks for helpin' me out." She said with a smile and Daryl knew that they were okay. "Way I see it, is that now you owe me two favors. One for rescuing you from little ass kicker just now and one from when I helped you with laundry." Said Daryl with a smirk.

"No way." Said Beth. "Don't act like you did me a huge favor with Judith. Spending time with her is a hobby for you." Said Beth as Daryl opened his mouth to argue. "And as far as the clothes go." Beth pressed on, not letting the man get a word in edge wise. "There has to be some sort of statues of limitation for favors. That was weeks ago. Your window of opportunity has passed Dixon."

"Not true, it doesn't work like that Greene no matter how much ya want it to." Daryl smirked at Beth a gleam in his eyes. "In fact I'm gonna cash in on one of those favors right now." He told her.

"Get yer shoes on and meet me outside." Said Daryl standing up suddenly taking Judith with him. "And bring your knife." Daryl added as an afterthought. "Okay?" said Beth the word coming out more as a question. "3 minutes." Said Daryl walking out the door.

It had been more than three minutes that Beth waited standing outside she stifled a yawn, it was still early but Beth had a long few days. Beth whipped her head around as she heard the door creek open. But instead of Daryl walking out to meet her, Glenn, Maggie, and Hershel met Beth instead. "Hey Bethy." Said Maggie with a smile. "What are ya doin' out here?" "Lord if I know." Said Beth slightly put out.

Daryl said to meet him here in 3 minutes and that was over 20 minutes ago. "Don't worry, he's comin'." Said Glenn "Saw him and Carol arguing upstairs, he probably just got caught up. Y'all goin' on a run again? Kinda late." Glenn finished. "Not that I know about." Said Beth with a confused look.

"She and Daryl are goin' to check some of the traps out in the woods." Hershel told the group. "Are we?" Beth inquired. "Yes, Daryl said somethin' about increasing Beth's trainin'." Hershel finished.

"I wanna go too!" Glenn whined. "I've been beggin' Daryl to teach me how to hunt and he won't budge." The Greene's laughed at the man before Maggie pulled his arm. "Come on. We got to get to guard duty. You can beg Daryl to teach you to hunt later."

"Hey Daddy." Beth said turning to her Father once the other two had left. "Thank you for bein' okay with this." "You know. I think that it's just as good for Daryl as it is for you." Hershel said softly.

"Boy needs to feel needed. He's had a hard life Bethy and I think teachin' you stuff is doin' him some good too. 'Sides, you're both right, 'bout you needin' to learn to protect yerself. We won't always be here Bethy and you need a solid foundation. Wish I could teach ya myself, but I think yer in good hands."

"Wish everyone felt that way." Said Beth sourly. "I think Maggie would tie me to my bed if she could." They both chuckled. "I'm not exicted about either of you going into a dangerous situation, but I'm now startin' to understand the reality of our new world and I want you to be as prepared as possible."

"Love you Daddy." Said Beth leaning forward and hugging him tightly. " Love you too Bethy. Now I expect Daryl will be ready to leave soon and probably he won't be in the best of moods." Hershel said. "Why don't you go get those two packs y'all used last time and fill it with one of the first aid boxes and some food?"

Beth smiled. "You sure? We could probably find somethin' ta eat for dinner while we are huntin'." "We aren't that bad off that we can't spare you too a little food for your hunt." Hershel told her. "Besides knowing you somthin'will probably go wrong." Hershel finished with a grin. "I'm goin'. I'm goin'." Beth chided slipping back into the house glad and grabbing the two packs.

Remembering what happened last time, Beth grabbed each of them a spare set of clothes before heading back outside. Beth only waited a minute before Daryl came bursting through the front door.

Knowing she wouldn't get anything out of him now and not wanting to give him an opportunity to yell at her now that they were good again, Beth reached out passing Daryl his pack silently before walking towards his bike, Daryl following angrily in her wake.

"Ya don't mind waitin' on the hunting do ya?" Daryl threw at Beth as they neared the bike. "Nope, don't think I'm quiet in the mind frame to hunt yet." She told him. Daryl gave her a soft look before clambering onto this bike, pulling his crossbow and pack around to his front to give Beth room behind him. "Hold on tight." Daryl told her after she had gotten settled before pealing out onto the driveway and off the Greene farm.

Beth wasn't exactly sure but she thought she saw a little scrap of something blowing in the breeze attached to their mailbox at the end of the road as they zoomed past. Shaking it off, Beth figured if she really did, they could look at it again on their way back in.

The pair drove around in silence for about forty-five minutes before Daryl slowed down. Daryl had pulled over and driven slightly into the woods before cutting the engine and leaning forward to rest his head on the handlebars. Careful not to touch his back any more than she needed to, but pushed herself off of the bike and walked around front so she could look at Daryl.

"Who did ya leave Judith with?" Beth inquired pulling Daryl out of his head. "What? Uh…T-Dog and Carol." He replied shortly. "Oh." Said Beth. "Couldn't find Rick or Carl." Daryl said in a gruff voice. "Where's Rick?" asked Beth concerned. "Ain't that the question. Wasn't much bothered to find out until Carol told me that he and Shane had gone out to hunt for food."

Beth's face paled immediately. "Whose idea?" she asked. "T-Dog said Shane asked Rick if he wanted ta go." Daryl told her with a scowl. "Woulda appreciated them lettin' me know first." He continued.

"Make me do all the grunt work, but then I find out shit after everyone else." Beth reached out to move some of Daryl's hair back out of his face, but stopped mid-way freezing.

"Where did ya say Carl was?" Beth asked quickly. "Didn't, donno where he was looked for him for a while too. Why?" Daryl asked looking up, before the meaning behind Beth's question dawned on him. "He didn't?" asked Daryl.

"He can't see that Daryl." Said Beth passionately. "We gotta go make sure he doesn't see it." She finished. "Come on." Daryl grunted motioning with his head for Beth to get back on.

 _BANG!_ The pair heard a gunshot go off and the sound leaked through the quiet evening. The sun had begun to set and Daryl drove faster trying to get back to the farm. The gun shot was too much of a coincidence for it not to have been Rick or Shane's gun fired. The pair only hoped it was the former still standing.

"Stop!" Beth shouted as they again were about to pass the mailbox at the very front edge of the Greene property. "What? Why?" asked Daryl but complied. Beth ignored his question and instead slid off the back of the bike and carefully walked over towards her mailbox. A lump growing in her throat with every step her took.

"No." she said shaking her head.

"No." she said again as she walked back a few steps. Looking over at Daryl, Beth pointed to the small scrap of fabric that was hanging from the mailbox. A small scrap of fabric that matched the ones they had seen on the cars a few weeks ago just before those men showed up.

"You don't think they know where we are do you?" Beth asked uncertainly. "Get back on the bike Greene." Said Daryl low and calmly, eyes darting around. Beth followed his directions and within seconds they were gone.

When they finally made it back to the farm the pair noticed one thing right away. A herd had swarmed the farm. Daryl felt Beth's head fall forward catching hard between his shoulder's tears falling off her face and down his back.

"Beth look." Daryl said sharping pointing towards the far end of the property opposite of them. Through her tears Beth made out a single car bolting into the woods cutting through a small opening and disappearing into the night.

They didn't know who or how many, but some of them got out and Beth was determined that she would find them.

13


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

A light rain began to trickle down from the sky as Daryl and Beth stood looking at the Greene farm, newly overrun by a heard of walkers. "Come on." Daryl grunted at the blonde as a flash of lightening tore through the sky.

Daryl walked towards the bike cramming their packs into the bags on the side of the bike only leaving his crossbow, gun, and knife out of the bags. A rumbling of thunder sounded in the distance as Daryl quickly finished adjusting their few belongings. "Ready?" Daryl asked pulling the last strap tight.

When no one answered Daryl glanced around, sweeping his blue eyes through the quickly darkening area to spot the blonde. Beth stood in the exact same place and position Daryl had left her minutes before oblivious to the rain that had started fall.

"Hey!" Daryl hissed feeling angry. Didn't the girl understand that they needed to go? "Get yer ass over here." He called to her; gaining no response. "Greene!" Daryl hollered finally gaining the girl's attention.

Beth turned around to face him a composed look on her face. "We gotta go." He told her in a slightly more gentle voice. With a small nod and a composed face Beth walked over towards Daryl and waited for him to sit down before climbing on.

"Turn left." Beth said to Daryl in a soft voice he barely heard over the roar of his engine and the rain. Daryl was surprised but complied and pulled out of the driveway taking a left. "Cut to the right and then in about 20 minutes you'll see an old wooden sign with yellow paint, turn right onto that path and then drive until you can't anymore." Then Beth was quiet.

The pair rode, clothing getting wetter by the second and the sky's growing darker. Daryl knew there wasn't a chance that someone would be able to follow them, not in this weather, you could barely see and the rain would wash away their tracks. He also knew that while this benefited the two of them, it also meant it would be very difficult to find and follow any tracks left from the car that had escaped the farm. Unsure what to say to Beth, Daryl drove.

Beth flew forward head slamming into Daryl's wet leather vest as the man came to a sudden stop. Daryl had almost passed the yellow sign Beth described making a sharp turn he started down the old road, that looked more like a worn walking trail than something you were supposed to drive on.

Luckily the bike was small and they fit through the overgrown trees easily. By the time they had reached what Daryl thought was the end of the road; the sun had almost dropped over the horizon with the rain showing no signs of letting up. "We will have to walk from here." Said Beth calmly.

Daryl nodded, not liking the idea of leaving the bike to the elements but not really seeing how he had another choice. Beth had already slipped off and was pulling their packs out of the side pockets. She held onto Daryl's while he tried to hide and cover the bike the best he could. When he finished Beth handed the man his pack before taking off through the woods, Daryl following closely behind her.

"Where are we goin'?" he asked catching up to her. "It's an old huntin' cabin that hasn't been used in a long time." Beth said quietly looking up at the sky before picking up the pace, as she seemed to have noticed the rain for the first time. By the time they had reached the lodge the pair was soaked to the bone and the only light they had was when lightening lite up the sky.

Daryl squinted trying to take in the building the best he could. Beth walked up to the small lodge and began to hammer with her knife on the window next to the front door. After a few minutes with no signs of movement Daryl moved forward to kick in the door tired of being outside. "Wait!" Beth shouted stopped Daryl. "Wha? Why?" he asked sharply.

Beth choose not to answer and instead moved in front of the door and felt around the top of the frame, pulling down a small key and unlocking the door. "What?" asked Beth looking perplexed at the face Daryl was making. Daryl shook his head and walked inside crossbow out and ready. Beth followed behind him knife in hand. As she expected the cabin had been clear of walkers. Really, she would have been surprised if any had found this place.

Shrugging, Beth stepped forward and walked into the cabin. Once Daryl was confident that the house was as safe as it could be he set about searching the cabin while Beth made her way to the bathroom. Assuming the kitchen would keep Daryl occupied for a while Beth crept into the bathroom and gently slide the door shut. Thoughts swirled around in her head until it hurt to think.

Dropping her pack onto the floor Beth slumped down next to the small tub and pulled her knees up to her body, clutching them tightly to her with her arms. 'They got out.' Beth chanted to herself over and over. 'They got out.' And Beth believed it. A clap of thunder sounded and rattled the house. Rain whipped at the windows and Daryl called for the blonde.

Taking a few deep breaths and grabbing her things Beth went to find Daryl. All of the noise made Beth a little nervous, but storms had always intrigued her. Daryl on the other hand seemed down right uncomfortable with the weather. The living room had been rearranged and the couch pushed against the door. The curtains had been drawn shut around the windows and the cabin seemed to be sufficiently closed off from the outside world.

"Heavy storm." Daryl commented trying to sound casual. Beth felt her bottom lip sliding in between her teeth, trying to keep from laughing at the man. "Yeah." She replied. "We haven't had one like it in a while." Daryl looked everywhere but at Beth as they talked. "Figure nothin' getting in, specially in this weather. We should get some rest while we can." Said Daryl. Beth nodded her agreement and began walking towards the bedroom.

Daryl collided into Beth after a particularly loud boom and a strike of lightening and light up the entire cabin. "You okay?" she asked him a smirk coming onto her face. "Fine." He muttered with a glare towards the blonde. 'Oh yes.' Thought the woman. 'Daryl is definitely afraid of thunder storms.'

The pair walked into the bedroom to find a small room with two beds squished together in the small room. Daryl's eyes darted around the room and back towards the couch in the living room. Taking pity on the man who seemed to be raging an internal battle Beth asked, "Do you". "Do you mind staying in here with me?" Beth held her breath hopefully.

Although she didn't mind the storm like Daryl did, she wasn't too keen on being left alone after what they had witnessed at the farm. "Sure if ya need me to." Said Daryl laying his things down on one of the beds, a look of relief flashing on his face. Beth smiled settling in to her own bed a few feet away.

"You hungry?" Beth asked Daryl breaking the silence. "Naw, too much goin' on in my head. Couldn't eat now even if I wanted." Daryl told her. "I"ll save it for breakfast then." Said Beth sliding into the dusty bed. A flash of lightening gave Beth a good look at Daryl lying in his bed. His fists were clinched tightly together and his jaw was shut in a tight line.

Beth knew that talking was out of the question right now. It would only make Daryl yell at her and he was upset enough already. Beth closed her eyes and began to hum. The noise seemed to sooth Daryl and eventually his fist began to loosen. Until they both fell into a fitful sleep.

Daryl lay on his twin bed having woken during the night by an odd feeling. Sighing, he tried his best to stay relaxed and ignore the storm still raging outside of the cabin. Daryl really hated storms. He was glad for the shelter; the idea of being outside in this was enough to make him shiver. Nothing good came from storms like this. The red neck had tried his best to keep his unease from Beth, but the blonde probably had seen right through him.

That annoyed Daryl. He had learned long ago that when people got close someone was always let down. He had worked carefully to keep himself from getting to that place of closeness, and then came Beth Greene and all of his defenses melted away. He was concerned about the blonde; she had been oddly calm since finding the farm and had acted in what was his opinion a very unBeth like manor. That was after her first and only bout of tears.

Daryl rolled over towards the second bed, intent on checking to see how Beth was doing. Daryl's stomach dropped and his heart leapt into this throat as he saw the empty bed next to his. Jumping up Daryl grabbed his crossbow and flew out of the bedroom and into the main area of the cabin. "Beth!" he called loudly in relief after spotting the girl next to the window.

The hunter lowered his crossbow and crossed the room coming to stand near the girl. "You okay?" he asked head leaning slightly towards one side. Beth nodded and looked thoughtfully over at the man, he bottom lip caught in her teeth, a small smile playing on her lips. "What?" asked Daryl eyes narrowing at the blonde's expression. "I think that's the first time you've ever called me Beth." She told him.

Daryl looked slightly taken aback. He thought back to their conservations and realized that she was right. Although he had referred to her in his head countless times as Beth and spoken to her father, calling the girl by name. But he had refrained from saying to the girl to whom the name belonged.

Rubbing the back of his neck and not wanting to think about what she had said Daryl asked, "What are ya doin' out here?" Beth looked back out towards the window. Daryl thought she looked at peace and perfectly content sitting in the cabin and watching the rain fall. She was beautiful.

Daryl froze. Where had that thought come from. He wasn't supposed to be thinking about Beth that way. She was far too good for him and beside if he started thinking like that, he would do something stupid and ruin whatever they had.

Beth's response jarred the man from his thoughts. "I wanted to watch the rain. There is something so powerful about it. It's Mother Nature at her finest, all fury and there is nothing we can do to stop her. I've always loved storms." Beth finished. Daryl schooled his features intent on not letting Beth realize how uncomfortable he was with them. Taking a deep breath he sat down on the couch next to her and looked outside.

Daryl wasn't so sure he agreed with Beth, but he did have to admit that the rain itself wasn't so bad. The constant rhythm was relaxing if you were calm enough to appreciate the droll. After some time Daryl looked over to see the blonde yawning for the third time. "Come on." He told her. "Let's go to bed." Beth nodded and the pair made there way back to the room, each falling asleep much quicker than they had before.

Daryl woke up first the next morning and looked over to see Beth fast asleep. He decided that she could probably use a few extra hours to help combat the emotions she was probably feeling. Daryl got up and began to look around the cabin in more detail. The cabin itself did seem to be abandoned.

He wondered how Beth knew about this place. He had been surprised last night to find that the cabinets were fairly well stocked and would tide the pair over for a while, until they could come up with a plan.

"Jackpot!" Daryl grunted pleased with himself as he found an entire unopened box of cereal. Rooting around in cabinets, he tired to remember where he can seen bowls the night before when a voice spoke from behind him. "Try the cabinet over the coffee pot." Daryl spun around surprised to hear the voice but pleased that it sounded so upbeat and Beth like.

"When did ya get so good at sneaking up on people?" asked the Red Neck as he looked in the cabinet over the coffee pot. Sure enough there were a stack of plastic bowls. Beth smile, "I figured it would be one of the harder parts of our training and I should probably start early." "Hmm." Was the man's only response as he poured some cereal into two bowls and bought them to the table where Beth was sitting.

"How did you know about this place?" Daryl asked after he finished shoveling his food into this mouth. Taking her time to eat Beth thought how to answer his questions before she replied. "I used to come here before." She told Daryl. "I hoped maybe…I hoped maybe Maggie would come here too." Beth looked everywhere but at Daryl as she finished eating her breakfast.

Daryl looked over at Beth eyes narrowed. He knew that Beth was hiding something; she screamed it at him with every part of her being. Daryl looked at Beth for a minute longer before deciding that he would leave it alone for now. He could get it out of her later.

A few hours later Daryl found himself outside with a determined looking Beth; sweat dripping down both of their faces after running many miles in the heat. The day had turned out nicely and the storm had cleared and passed through. Beth slumped over hands on her knees breathing deeply.

Daryl had pushed her past her normal speed today and she was more out of breath than she had been in a while. "You good?" Daryl asked after a few minutes turning to Beth, having just recovered. "Yeah." Said Beth, but it came out more like a question.

"If someone came up behind you and grabbed you on the wrist what would you do?" Daryl asked Beth. "Pull my arm away." Said Beth thinking that it was a stupid question. "Try it." Daryl grunted at her. "What?" asked Beth confused. Daryl walked towards the blonde grabbing her wrist tightly. Beth pulled. Hard, but still she couldn't break his grip.

"Well?" Daryl grunted at her, looking expectantly. "What are ya gonna do?" Beth yanked her arm again, but her wrist stayed firmly in Daryl's warm grasp. "Think." He prompted her. "There is a way out of everythin'." He informed the blonde.

Beth looked at Daryl's hand and arm studying the way she was being held. The blonde noticed that while her wrist were slim Daryl's hand still wasn't quiet big enough to make a solid circle. Thinking quick and with out making any sound Beth yanked her arm in an upwards motion breaking through Daryl's weak spot near his thumb. "Took ya long enough.' Was the man's only response, but Beth noticed a smile playing around his lips.

"Let's go again." Said Beth moving to plant her feet firmly on the ground extending her arm to the man. With out hesitating Daryl grabbed her arm and Beth broke though quickly using the same technique. Daryl nodded before grabbing her wrist again, this time with both hands.

Beth hesitated not seeing quiet as obvious of an out. Experimenting, Beth twisted the top half of her body swinging her captured arm out of the side before pulling up. The hands didn't budge or release her.

'Leverage.' Beth muttered the word to herself thinking hard. Daryl raised an eyebrow at the blonde in question. Suddenly an idea popped into Beth's head, she needed to use her whole body. Reaching around with her free hand, the young woman grabbed her balled fist with her free hand, sunk her arm and body down before quickly popped it up and free out of Daryl's grasp.

The smile that hit Beth's face took Daryl by surprise, her entire being seemed to light up at her accomplishment. Daryl, realizing that he was staring, before quickly looking away and clearing his throat. "Wanna go a few more times?" Beth nodded pulling the smile off her face and putting on her game face instead.

Daryl couldn't help it, the more time he spent with Beth the more he admired the girl. Despite being alone, and having lost their home, Daryl found he was glad to be with her.

 _ **Hello wonderful readers! I am so sorry it took me such a long time to get this next chapter out. My adorable demon kitten chewed through my computer's power cord for the 3rd time. I have a mac! Do y'all know how expensive those chargers are to buy?! At any rate, I've taken over my husband's computer and I'm still getting used to his HP so if you notice more typos and grammatical errors than normal...well I should really find someone to edit! : )**_

 _ **Thank you all again for your follows and supports! My husband told me he would get me a surprise when I reach 50 followers! So if you're reading this and you think, 'eh maybe'...DO IT! Help a girl out. I'm really close.**_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The days passed and Daryl and Beth developed a routine. In the mornings they would go and check the traps that Daryl had built. He taught Beth how to hide the traps from view and the best places to put them.

In the afternoon's they would train. The pair sent time running before Daryl had Beth practice getting out of different holds. By evening the pair would be exhausted and would sit in the living room until it came time for bed.

Daryl found himself talking to Beth more than he had talked to anyone before. At first, he taught Beth more than he had anticipated for no other reason than just to have something to do.

But Beth was an excellent student. Daryl found himself recalling Hershel's words and agreed that Beth had done better than either of the pair had expected. The blonde took to his world like a natural. Though, he shouldn't have been surprised. Beth was a Greene, and the Greene's were tough.

Winter was coming. The weather was growing colder and the leaves had fallen off almost all of the trees. Thanks to the cabin they had warmth and protection from the elements, but Daryl was concerned about their safety for the long term.

Beth cleared her throat interrupting his thought. "I think we should go back to the farm." Daryl froze eyes narrowed. It wasn't the first Beth had made this suggestion. "We talked 'bout this Greene." Daryl growled at her. Beth looked slightly shaken at his tone, but continued with a determined look in her eyes. "I think they would have gone back there." Beth continued. "Left us a message."

Daryl sighed and knew he couldn't keep Beth from going forever. If he didn't agree soon enough, he knew she would go on her own and that was the last thing Daryl wanted. "The place was crawlin' with walkers, aint no one in their right mind gonna go back there."

Beth eyed him, her face hard clearly unpleased with his reaction. Daryl didn't back down, he looked back at her just as intently, until Beth's facial expression slowly melted off and she took on a more defeated look. "Do you think they are still alive?" she asked quietly. Daryl froze. In all their time together Beth had never asked him this. She had maintained that they were still alive.

He looked over at the blonde carefully surveying the woman in front of him. "Donno." He settled on saying. "It gets more and more unlikely that they survived with each passing day. And even if they did survive it's unlikely that they stayed around here." A small spark of hope danced in Beth's eyes. "They made it out and they are okay, I know they are." She told him firmly. "That's why I want to go to the farm. Daryl glared at the blonde. "Drop it." He told her firmly. Beth conceded saying, "Fine." Daryl knew that she had left off an unspoken 'for now.'

The man sighed. He didn't quite know why he was being so stubborn about staying away from the farm. He cared for Beth, and part of him was concerned that if she went back she was going to get hurt, maybe not physically, but emotionally. Daryl scoffed. Since when did he care about anyone's emotions? The little voice in the back of his head reminded him that he had started to care when those emotions belonged to Beth.

As much as he hated to admit it, the young woman had gotten under his skin. The more she trained and was able to look after herself the more Daryl had liked her. He appreciated how soft she was and that she had managed to turn this cabin into their home, but she could still watch his back and kick ass when she needed.

Daryl appreciated everything about Beth. And as much as he had tried to deny it to himself, she had wormed her way in and become important to him. Daryl knew that no matter what happened he would do whatever it took to protect her. He also knew if anything ever happened and he was without her that he would never be whole again. Daryl swore that he would do whatever he could to prepare and protect Beth to keep that from ever becoming a reality.

"I wanted ta talk to you 'bout something." Daryl told Beth interrupting the awkward silence that had come after he shut her request down. "Incase…incase we ever get separated a way to leave each other messages. "You mean like a code?" Beth asked. Daryl could tell that he had peaked her interest. He grunted in reply. "I was thinkin' we could develop ways to communicate with out others understanding." He told her. "What exactly did you have in mind?" the young woman asked.

For the next week, that's how the pair spent their nights developing an unspoken language that wouldn't be obvious to an outsider and only they would understand even if it were seen.

Daryl woke up before the sun had a chance to shine through the window. He looked over and wasn't surprised to find that Beth was awake in the bed next to his breathing slowly. "Get any sleep?" he grunted at her rubbing his eyes. "Enough." the blonde responded. Daryl didn't believe her. He had spent a good portion of the night waking up to her whimpers and cries.

Beth had started to have nightmares after their first few days in the cabin. They were slowly growing worse and Daryl had no idea what to do to stop them. Deciding not to call her out on it, he rolled over on his back and looked up at the celling.

"You ready?" he asked the blonde. "Yeah. Much as I can be I guess." She replied tilting her head to the side to look at the man. "You remember what to do if we get separated?" Daryl asked her. Beth rolled her eyes and humored him with an answer. She knew if she didn't he wouldn't leave until she told him. "If walkers separate us I run out of town and into the woods until I make my way back here. I will wait for you at the pond."

"And?" asked Daryl looking straight at Beth. "If case the walkers are still following me when I get there I will leave a scrap of fabric on a tree so you know I was there. "If for some reason I have to leave I will carve into a tree when I will be back." Beth told him in a monotone reciting their plan for the umpteenth time.

Daryl nodded thinking. "What if we run into other people?" he asked. "Hide." Said Beth simply. "If things go bad we will meet at the pond." Daryl looked at her turning his head to face her. "What if they take you?" he asked face blank.

"I will try to get away. When I can I will carve an arrow to show which way I'm goin' and if I can I will leave fabric outside of where we are so you know." Daryl nodded it wasn't the most sound plan, but at least it was something.

He didn't think he could handle it if they were separated and didn't have a plan to get back to each other. Daryl was determined that what happened on the farm wouldn't happen again. "If anything happens to either of us and it's at all possible we will meet back here or in this area and we will wait for the other one. Got it?" Daryl finished.

Beth nodded and gave him a small smile before reaching out and squeezing his hand. "It's gonna be fine." The blonde told him. With a deep breath Daryl got out of bed and went into the kitchen leaving Beth to her own thoughts in the second twin bed.

The pair were sitting in a car Daryl had found a few days previously while out hunting driving into town for the first time since they had left the farm. The cabin had kept them fed, but they were running low on some basic supplies. The atmosphere was heavy and Beth felt like she was going to crawl out of her skin if she didn't do something to break the tension.

"Wanna make a bet?" Beth asked Daryl with a sly grin on her face. Daryl glanced at Beth out of the corner of his eye and frown. "Come on." She taunted him. "Scared I'll win?" Daryl snorted. "You can't beat me at anythin'." He told her smugly. "Well just have to see about that." Beth countered. "Fine, I'll bite. What the bet?" he asked the girl.

Beth thought for a minute. She had never been on a run before and didn't have any experience to pull from in terms of what the run would be like. All of her knowledge had come from the stories and lessons she had heard from Maggie and Daryl. "I bet we run into 6 walkers." Beth told him.

Daryl scoffed. This was too easy. Part of the reason he was taking Beth to this particular area was because when he had scouted it a few days before there seemed to be plenty of supplies and not any walkers. "You're on. No way there's gonna be six. Four tops." He told her smugly.

"What does the winner get?" Daryl asked. "Loser finds winner a drink, a real drink not water." Beth told him. "Where the hell am I supposed to find a drink?" Beth shrugged. "Guess you better figure it out or don't loose." Said Beth with a smile on her face. Daryl couldn't help but laugh.

The pair continued into town slowly loosing their lightness, as they got closer. Daryl pulled the car to a stop and turned off the engine in front of a small strip center. "Necessities first and then you can grab more if we have room in our packs." Daryl told her for the 100th time. Beth nodded reaching over to make sure her knife was still secure on her hip. "Ready?" she asked him. Daryl nodded and opened his door.

Their immediate are looked clear of walkers. "Perimeter check?" Beth questioned before receiving a nod in response. The pair circled to the de of the buildings and around the back before they encountered a walker. There, some 200 feet in front of them sat a walker who seemed to be stuck through the middle on a pole that had broken off of the wall.

Daryl raised his crossbow taking aim. Before he could shoot he felt a hand on his arm. Looking over Beth gestured with her head to her knife she had pulled out, silently asking if she could kill the walker. Daryl hesitated; they hadn't been training to kill walkers. Besides the very basics Daryl had shown Beth if she was ever close with one they hadn't spent much time training to be on the defensive.

But Beth was a smart girl and looked determined. Taking one more glance at the walker who looked old and sickly and pretty well stuck he gave a curt nod to Beth and lowed his bow. Beth's hand slide down his arm coming to rest on top of Daryl's hand, where she slipped her smaller one into his and gently squeezed.

"Through the eyes and into the brain, or straight down through the skull and into the brain." Daryl whispered to Beth. The blonde nodded and squeezed the man's hand once more before letting go and walking forward, Daryl following closely behind, his knife having also been drawn and ready.

Beth walked with her knife ready. She knew that as long as the walker hadn't noticed her she would have an advantage over it. Once the walker noticed her she would have to move quick. Beth moved forward only ten feet between her and the walker when the dead man's head snapped up and bared his teeth. With out hesitating Beth moved quickly closing the remaining distance between herself and the struggling walker plunging her knife into its head and though his skull until the walker moved no more.

Smiling Beth turned around to grin at Daryl. The red neck had his cross bow drawn and an arrow whizzed past her head landing neatly in the eye socket of a second walker who had stumbled upon the pair. "Two down two ta go." Daryl smirked at Beth, who smiled and shook her head. "I think you mean four ta go" she mimicked him.

The pair made their way back around the front of the store and peered inside the windows for walkers. "Can I?" asked Beth holding her knife and pointing to the window. Daryl nodded. Beth used her knife to bang on the window several times, in an attempt to draw out any walkers that might be hiding in the store.

After just a few seconds a walker moved forward slamming itself against the window trying desperately to get to Beth. The blonde jumped back surprised to encounter a walker with so much energy. "Hasn't been a walker for too long." Daryl commented to Beth. "I got this one." He added before kicking the door open with his foot, crossbow up and ready. An arrow zoomed through the open door hitting the walker and killing it with ease.

Beth followed closely behind Daryl as they had earlier agreed checking to see if the rest of the building was clear. "I got your back." Beth whispered after Daryl had glanced behind him to make sure the blonde was still there. With in a few minutes the pair had circled the store and Daryl had decided it was clear. "See if ya can't find any medical equipment." Daryl called to Beth walking towards the back of the store. "Yes!" Beth whispered to herself as she came upon a four pack of toilet paper quickly stuffing the rolls into her backpack.

She searched the rows picking up anything medical she could find. Band-Aids, tape, and aspirin had been some of her luckier finds. The blonde had just bent down to reach or a tube of anti itch cream when she froze. The hairs on the back of her neck had stood up and she knew they were no longer alone. She glanced around quickly for Daryl and found him walking quietly in a crouch towards her. He put his hands to his lips and motioned with his head for Beth to go towards their left behind the register.

Beth pulled on her pack and moved as quickly and quietly as she could and pushed herself into a corner concealed by a wall, Daryl following closely behind her. Beth could feel her heart hammering in her chest as the door to the shop opened. Sucking in a deep breath she felt Daryl push himself further into Beth one hand rest on his knife, the other snaking out behind him to find Beth's hand. The blonde grabbed onto his hand like a lifeline and squeezed.

The pair heard a pair of feet moving around the shop stopping every so often to pick up something before moving on. After what seemed to be an eternity the steps faded and the door shut with a click. Both let out a breath of air slowly. Daryl squeezed Beth's hand before straighten up and standing to his full height pulling her with him. "Stay towards the edge of the storm and go straight to the car." Beth nodded.

"Where are you going?" she whispered at him eyes wide. "Through the middle to make sure whoever was here is gone and you have a clear path to the car." He told her giving her hand one more squeeze before pulling away and gently pushing her to the side. Beth took a deep breath and walked slowly around the edge of the store, knife at the ready eyes darting around. Beth rounded the last edge and slipped through the door before letting out a short squeal.

She had walked almost right into a walker who was moving around the corner. The walker lunged at the girl grabbing onto her shirt and snarling teeth snapping. With a yelp Beth swung her knife up under the walkers jaw and drove it through his head until it stabbed the brain. The walker fell with a crash to the ground. "Daryl! " Beth called turning around, her next words dying on her lips as she came face to face with a long knife pointed at her only inches from her throat.

"Make one move and I will kill you." Beth heard a gruff voice growl from beside her. She felt relieved. Daryl was here and everything would be okay. He would make sure of it. "Who is she to you?" asked the woman on the other end of the sword. "None of your business." Daryl sneered back at her. "Drop the machete." He added. That's what the long sword thing was called thought Beth. The woman's eyes turned towards Beth and looked for a moment like she was studying the blonde.

"Daryl." Called Beth in a calm voice reaching out her hand to grab his, a realization having suddenly hit her. This woman wasn't going to hurt her she was sure of it. Daryl on the other hand she wasn't so positive if she was safe from her attack. "It's okay. She's not going to hurt me." Beth knew that Daryl had said something back, probably something stupid, but she didn't hear him, and instead she focused on the woman in front of her. "I'm okay." She told the lady. "He isn't going to hurt me. He protects me and he is teaching me to protect myself." The black woman snorted. "Yeah, and what's he getting in return?"

"It ain't like that." growled Daryl moving forward protectively in front of Beth. The woman surveyed them before nodding and putting her sword back in its sheath on her back. She darted quietly around a bush before returning with two walkers who had chains tied around their neck and attached to the end of a pole she was carrying. Both arms had been chopped off and their mouths looked sunken in to their heads. The woman opened her mouth to speak before a walker came stumbling quickly towards the group groaning from the parking lot.

The woman pulled out her sword again, and Daryl took the opportunity to leave pulling Beth quickly with him. The pair ran to the car and jumped in as the woman took care of the aggressive walker. Daryl pealed out of the parking lot and Beth watched as she cut into the walker's head slicking off the top half killing the walker.

Beth ran a hand through her hair pushing back the loose ends that had fallen out and pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. Beth looked over at Daryl to gage his reaction. He red neck was ridged. He was driving quickly and kept glancing between the road and Beth his eyes hard. Unsure what to say or do Beth said the first thing that popped into her mind. "Well, I guess you won the bet." She quipped out in a high voice that she didn't recognize.

"I don't think those two walkers with that lady counted. They were weird. I mean I knew they were walkers, but they weren't actin' like I expected them too. They didn't seem bothered by us at all. Not counting those two, we found exactly four walkers like you said. So you win. I owe you a drink." Beth finished babbling.

Daryl rubbed the back of his neck and looked over at Beth for the 50th time since they had bolted out of the parking lot. Their encounter with that woman had scared him. He knew that there were others out there, but he hadn't had this close of a call since they met those pricks on the highway. Someone, now that they were on their own, it felt like an even bigger threat.

He understood what the woman was implying even if Beth hadn't fully grasped what she was implying. There were men out their trading protection for women, women like Beth, for physical pleasures. The thought of someone doing that to Beth made him shiver. He promised himself again, he would do whatever it took to protect Beth. There was no going back at least not for Daryl. He cared for her, and that was something Daryl knew he would never get over.

That thought scared the man as much if not more than anything else he had encountered since the world had ended.

14


	11. Chapter 11

A/N Hey guys! I know it's been a while. Insert lame excuse here as to why I've been busy. Here is the next chapter and I really hope that you guys like it. I started it literally over a year ago and I had a hard time finding my voice but I really want to finish the story. Thanks for hanging in there with me. Oh, and please excuse any errors or terrible spelling. I have mom brain right now with my 3 month old. She is super cut but completely exhausting.

Chapter Eleven

After several hours driving around Daryl had decided it was safe to head back towards the cabin. About a mile out he came to a stop and turned off the engine. The man turned in his seat to face Beth who was still pale and slightly shaking. He reached out and gently brushed along her cheekbone with his thumbing cupping her face with his hand. "You okay?" he asked her.

Beth nodded. "I'm good now." She told him. Daryl searched her eyes looking for any signs that she wasn't telling him the truth. Seemingly satisfied with her answer he nodded brushing her cheeks once more before pulling his hand back and moving to exit the car.

Beth got out and put on her backpack before moving back to Daryl's side. "Are you okay?" she asked him looking him over carefully. Daryl froze for a moment before moving to rub the back of his neck. No one, not even Merle had ever inquired after him like that. "Daryl?" Beth questioned concerned when she didn't receive a reply. "Yeah. Fine." Daryl grunted back at her. "Let's get inside. We had a long day." Beth agreed and the two walked back towards the cabin.

The sun had sunk over the horizon and the moon had come out for the night before the pair made it back to the cabin. Beth and Daryl both forced some dinner down their throats before moving to get ready for bed. "Night." Beth called softly to Daryl as she exited the bathroom, letting him go in behind her. "Night." Daryl grunted watching the blonde make her way into the bedroom.

Daryl splashed some water on his face and changed into his sleep clothes before making his way into the bedroom. He half expected Beth to be awake waiting for him before settling down to go to sleep. Daryl was instead surprised to find the blonde out like a light, probably asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Daryl was surprised at how relieved he felt to see the blonde safe in their cabin. He moved closer to the sleeping girl and pushed some hair out of her face that had fallen there. "Night Beth." He whispered leaning down and gently pressing a short kiss to the blonde's forehead before straightening up and walking over to his bed, falling asleep with in seconds.

Daryl woke to the sound of Beth thrashing around in her bed, he cracked his eyes open and looked around. It was still pitch black outside, hours before morning. Daryl's head turned sharply towards Beth as she began to cry out louder than normal, even in the semi darkness Daryl could see tears streaming down her face. "NO!" she screamed over and over.

Quickly Daryl bolted up right and jumped out of bed. This was different than most of her dreams. Daryl had never seen Beth like this before, and he instantly grew concerned. Not wanting to scare the girl more than she already was, Daryl hesitated thinking how he should wake her up. Gently he moved towards the blonde's bed calling her name. "Beth. Beth, it's just a dream. Yer okay." He said softly.

Her thrashing seemed to diminish slightly but her screams hadn't ceased as he moved closer to the woman. Gently sitting on the edge of her bed he shook the girl awake. Beth sat up eyes wide and wild looking, yes darting around the dark room.

"Hey. It's just me. Yer okay." A gruff voice told her reaching out to grab her arm. Letting out a little sob Beth threw her arms around the man and clutched him to her tightly. "Yer okay. I'm here." He repeated over and over rubbing her back until her tears quit and she was asleep once more.

Daryl wasn't sure how Beth would react to finding him in her bed when she woke up in the morning, so with a sigh he gently removed the sleeping blonde from the hold she had on him and pushed her back down the bed. As Daryl stood to move away from Beth the girl let out a small whimper. "Shh." He told her. "Yer okay, I'm not goin' anywhere." Beth quieted down as if her subconscious had understood Daryl.

The red neck smiled to himself before pushing Beth over and sitting next to her in the small bed on top of the covers. As soon as he was settled Beth's small warm frame moved to curl herself around Daryl's body. The man hesitated slightly before moving his hand to rest in Beth's hair, gently playing with the loose ends until he too fell back asleep.

Morning came sooner than Beth would have liked. The blonde groaned when the sunlight shinning into the room woke her. 'Ugh.' She thought annoyed that the morning sun had interrupted one of her better nights of sleep she had since the beginning of the walkers. Deciding she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, Beth moved to stretch coming to a halt quickly when her head hit a hard smooth surface above her. Daryl.

Above Beth the hard surface otherwise known as Daryl began to squirm. "Mornin' Daryl." Beth spoke voice lower than normal. "Mornin'" Daryl replied back before their position caught up with his sleep addled brain. Beth heard a sharp intake of breathe before Daryl quickly unwound himself from the sheets and got out of bed. "Sorry!" Daryl began. "Ya had a nightmare and –" Daryl babbled before Beth cut him off.

"It's okay." She told him with a smile, stretching before sitting all the way up in the bed. "It wasn't an unpleasant. It was nice." Beth told Daryl. "Not that I imagined it wouldn't be." She added as an after thought. The pair froze, Beth's face heating up as a blush swept over her features. Daryl nervously rubbed the back of his head then asked, "Ya sure?" Beth nodded and reached over to grab his hand. "Thank you for waking me up last night." Daryl nodded. The blonde squeezed his hand and gently let go. "You wanna sort through the stuff we got in town yesterday?"

The days past but Beth's nightmares didn't cease; Daryl found his nights more frequently interrupted with scream and whimpers. "Beth" Daryl called out from his bed, hoping it would be enough to stir the girl. "Beth!" he called again sharply. "No, I'm sorry!" Beth sobbed in her sleep. "I won't do it again! Please I won't do it again!" Daryl didn't think he had ever jumped out of bed as fast as he did in that moment. The panic in her voice would forever be engrained in Daryl's mind.

"Wake up Beth, please wake up." Daryl called from her side shaking the sleeping girl. Beth's eyes flew open locking with Daryl's. Without saying a word the man opened his arms and Beth pulled him down to her level before burying her face in his chest.

Morning came upon the cabin like it always did, bright and calling the pair to start their day. Daryl had stayed up all night thinking, Beth's nightmares were getting out of hand and he had to do something about them before she brought a herd on their little cabin with her screams. Beth lay tangled in Daryl's arms trying to be a still and natural looking as possible. She knew her nightmares were getting worse and figured that Daryl was just about done letting her keep them to herself.

"I need to go back to the farm." Said Beth in a small voice. "Why Beth? Ya know it's too dangerous. We talked 'bout this already." Beth cut off Daryl "Maggie aint gonna come here Daryl. She aint gonna come here ever. She would have gone back to the farm. Maggie went back to the farm and you won't let me go back there! Ya keep tellin' me how dangerous it is, but I know that's where she went. We have to go to the farm."

"You may as well tell me why. Otherwise it ain't never gonna happen. I can't let you go there alone Beth, and I sure as hell ain't risking both our lives visitin that overrun farm with out knowin' why." Daryl told her firmly plopping done on one of the chairs in the dining room. At some point during Beth's speech she had stormed out of the bedroom and into the living room area.

The two glared at each other from across the table, neither blinking nor backing down. After a few minutes Beth's face softened and she opened her mouth to speak, before snapping it closed once more and standing up. Beth walked across the room and pushed the couch back against the wall before moving a large rug that lived under the couch. Beth bent down and pried up a loose floorboard setting it to the side before reaching her hand into the hole and pulling something out. Beth walked back to the table and dropped an unopened bottle of tequila in front of Daryl before sitting back down across from him.

"Maggie won't ever come back here because of that." Said Beth gesturing to the unopened bottle in front of Daryl looking like she had nothing left to say. "Wanna play 20 questions?" asked Daryl. After a minute Beth nodded.

"How old were you when you first came here?"

5.

Whose cabin?

My uncle's, he…he told Shaun we could use it whenever because my Uncle moved away.

Who did you come here wit?

Shaun brought Maggie and me at first…then just me.

How long would you stay here?

Depended, sometimes one night sometimes a week.

Did yer Daddy know that y'all were comin here?

No.

Did yer Uncle know why y'all were comin here?

Yes, he didn't want to leave us but didn't have much of a choice. That's why he told Shaun to bring us here.

Your dream last nite…did you get hit in your dream?

Beth nodded.

Did that sometimes happen at home?

It stopped when I was about 10.

What did you do here?

Hid…healed.

Is that why Maggie hates the cabin?

She swore after he got sober she would never come back here again.

Did anyone else know bout it?

Just Maggie and me left that know.

When did you start coming back here?

I was bout 13.

If yer Daddy was sober why did you come?

At first to get away.

Did you ever tell Maggie you were coming back here?

No.

Is that why the cabin was so well stocked when we got here?

Yeah. Mostly from before when my Uncle was here but I kept it up…just in case.

You've been having nightmares about when you used to come here.

That's not a question, but ya,.

You been dreamin about before….when you were home?

Last night was the worst one as far.

Did you have these dreams before we came here?

Yeah.

What used ta help stop them?

Nothing did before, 'cept Maggie waking me just like you do.

What helps them now?

You. I never have them when I'm sleeping with you.

You're such Maggie woulda gone back to the farm?

That's 21 questions, but yeah, I'm sure.

Okay Greene, I will take ya back to the farm.

8


	12. Chapter 12

A big thank you to emerald1921 who reviewed my story early today and inspired me to finish chapter 12! Y'all, I was looking through my notes for this story and I literally have the last 40 pages of this story done. Keep up with the reviews and I will try to get the next few middle chapters finished! You guys are the best.

Chapter 12

Daryl knew it was a bad idea, everything in his being told him to turn around and take Beth far away. But he couldn't do it. He had barely admitted it to himself but he knew this was something Beth needed to do. If she was going to survive she needed to depend on herself and following her gut was a good start. That and Daryl was no longer in a position to deny Beth anything.

Which was how the pair found themselves near the Greene mailbox, preparing to go back to the farm like he swore he would never do. "Ya ready?" Daryl grunted half hoping Beth would change her mind. Beth nodded eyes hard and focused. "Maggie's down there…maybe they all are." Daryl narrowed his eyes. Normally Beth's never ending hope was something he admired, but now it just seemed like it was setting her up for a let down. "Let's go." Was all he said.

The property had mostly been cleared. It looked like the heard had moved or someone had done a good job of clearing the walkers out. Daryl hoped Beth wouldn't notice, he didn't think they should stay regardless of the outcome. The pair crept slowly towards the house. Beth's knuckles whitening by the minute because of her increasingly stop grip.

They heard it before they saw anything, the low shuffle and moan of a walker slowly moving into view. The blonde looked through the open window hands shaking, eyes flooding with tears, but gun still drawn. "Beth." Came a soft pleading voice from behind her. Slowly Daryl's hand reached up and gently pulled the shaking hand down. Beth turned slowly to face Daryl whose hand had slipped down to clasped Beth around her hand.

"I can do this." Beth whispered head tilted towards the ground. "I know." Said Daryl squeezing Beth's hand. "But you shouldn't have to." Beth turned to look Daryl in the eyes, before opening her hand and letting the gun slide down and fall to the ground.

Daryl stared at Beth searching her eyes when he felt her small hand gently pull away from the grasp he had on her hand. Daryl's eyes widen, the feeling of rejection sweeping through him as he lowered his head to face the ground. Beth's hand reached out to catch Daryl's as he moved it closer to his side, sliding her hand into his she threaded their fingers together squeezing hard.

Daryl's eyes snapped back towards Beth, a warm feeling spreading through his body despite their current situation. A small plea brought Daryl's mind back to reality. Silent tears poured down Beth's cheeks in a steady stream, "Please." She gasped clutching tighter to his hand. Daryl turned to look at the body that used to belong to Hershel, sadness filling his entire being. Squeezing Beth's hand one more time the girl whispered, "Bye Daddy." Daryl pulled the trigger and the former great man fell to the ground.

Beth's knees gave out and she fell forward into Daryl. Two strong arms caught the blonde pulling her into his chest clutching her tightly before he lowered them both to the ground. With Beth wrapped tightly in his arms sobs wrecking her body, Daryl allowed himself to feel and to grieve for the loss of Hershel Greene.

So they sat, while Beth cried. Daryl gently rubbing her back in long soothing strokes, head bent down on top of hers, placing gentle kisses on the top of her head every so often while Beth clutched at his shirt, crying until she couldn't cry anymore.

The sun had set and Daryl's body was beginning to ache. Looking down at the sleeping girl in his arms, he knew that they needed to move inside. Stretching, Daryl moved to collect Beth's gun from where it had fallen hours before. Holstering the gun in his belt, Daryl stood, and then bent to pick the blonde up before walking into the farmhouse.

Daryl carried Beth up the stairs trying his best not to jostle her. Pushing open the door to her old bedroom, Daryl moved into the room. Doing his best to pull back the covers, Daryl lay Beth down in the bed before pulling the covers over the girl. Daryl reached out to brush the hair away from her face that had tumbled there. Letting his fingers linger Daryl gently stroked the girl's face.

"Thank you." A horse voice whispered eyes still closed. Not knowing what to say, Daryl gently brushed his hand over her cheek before standing to leave. "Please don't leave me." The horse voice called reaching out to grab his hand. Daryl looked back at Beth searching her eyes again trying to read her. "Promise?" asked Beth knowing he would agree before Daryl had known himself. "Yeah, promise." He told her before kicking his shoes off and moving to lie down. Beth lifted the covers giving Daryl room to slip underneath with her.

As soon as Daryl's back hit the bed Beth moved over wrapping herself back around the man and closing her eyes. Carefully Daryl reached out and moved his arms to surround the blonde who was using his chest as a pillow. Daryl knew that in the morning Beth would apologize for wrapping herself around Daryl and holding onto him as she slept. As much as he wished Beth would allow him to hold her every night, he knew that she wouldn't because no Dixon could ever deserve someone as amazing as Beth Greene.

So for this one night he clutched at the farmer's daughter with all of his might, tangling their limbs together. Daryl savored every sweet moment with the woman until he too found himself no longer able to keep his eyes open and followed Beth into sleep.

Daryl woke up on his back to the feeling of a thumb gently moving back and forth on his hand. Feeling more content and well rested than he could remember being in a long time, Daryl tired to take stock of why he was so comfortable before moving. There were three things Daryl knew right away.

1\. He was lying on his back and a body was lying on its side pressed firmly into him. 2. His fingers were tightly threaded though another hand and that hand was gently rubbing circles with its thumb. 3. The body belonged to Beth Greene.

A small smile refused to leave Daryl's face as he took stock of their position. Beth's head lay on his chest, one arm above her head, her fingers wrapped around his, and the other arm was thrown over his stomach and her clutched tightly at the material on the side of his shirt. One of Daryl's legs was on top of Beth's pining her underneath him, and his other leg was wedged in between the two of Beth's.

"Hey." Beth breathed once she realized Daryl was awake. "Hey." He grunted back voice scratchy from sleep. "I wanted to say, uh, thank you for staying with me. Ya know last night." Said Beth awkwardly. Daryl moved his free arm to rub the back of his neck. "Didn't mind it so much myself." Daryl breathed out. With a smile, Beth propped herself up pushing on Daryl's chest to give her some height over him.

Daryl looked up confusion written on his face, but he didn't pull back as she leaned closer to his face. Beth dipped her head forward and gently dropped a short kiss on his lips, pulling away quickly. "Thank you." She said again before letting her head fall back onto Daryl's chest. Gently Daryl brought his arm down and pulled Beth as close to him as he could manage.

Beth woke up again several hours later thirstier than she had been in some time. "Daryl" she whispered voice horse from sleep and raw from shedding so many tears. "Daryl" she said again with a little more volume. Beth sighed and decided to let him sleep, he had earned it after all. Gently she wiggled out of Daryl's warm hold and off the bed. Beth was struck by the thought of how normal this would have been in another lifetime. Waking up next to someone you loved.

"I know ya want ta stay but it ain't safe." Daryl told Beth after scrounging up some breakfast. "Daddy was here Daryl!" said Beth who seemed to be ignoring the fact that her Dad had died since she woke up. "If he came back I know that Maggie did too. We have ta stay." She insisted.

Daryl sighed, "Can't stay here forever. Not safe." "I know…it's not forever just for a few days give them a chance!" Daryl rolled his eyes, he knew he had already lost. He might be a redneck but he aint stupid. "Need ta set up a perimeter, try a make the drive way a little harder ta see too. We don't need no visitors." Beth smiled, "Sure, 'cept Maggie or the others."

Daryl couldn't help but feel a little lighthearted as the pair walked to the end of the drive holding hands. Beth was becoming bolder by the day and Daryl had to admit he didn't mind it.

"Daryl, do you see that?" Beth asked gesturing towards the mailbox. Daryl's eyes were narrowed, he had in fact noticed the mailbox right before Beth had mentioned it. "Come on. Stay close." Was all Daryl said as he dropped Beth's hand and pulled his cross bow off his back. Daryl scanned the immediate area looking for any sign of threats. Daryl turned to look at Beth whose face had gone completely white. With wide eyes Daryl saw what she had found.

Hanging off the mailbox was a note.

"I told you that you would pay." - Jimmy


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter 13

Quicker than she had ever seen him move, Daryl had snatched the fabric and note out of Beth's hands pocketing them. "He knows yer back." Said Daryl, eyes sliding all around them. "Git inside." He said, Beth hesitated "NOW!" he screamed.

"No." said Beth quietly. "No!" she said again firmer in response to a glare from Daryl. "I'm not scared. He doesn't scare me, not anymore. I won't hide and let ya do all the work." Said Beth looking him straight in the eye. "We can figure this out together, but I mean it, I ain't hiding." Daryl glared back at the blonde not at all happy with her new brave stance. "Come on." He told her glancing around once more before he started walking back towards the house.

"I told ya this was a bad idea!" Daryl threw at Beth not long after they had made it inside. Beth stared at him with wide eyes. "I told ya we shouldn't come back here! That is wasn't safe, but ya had ta come back." He continued voice rising in volume as he talked. "Dunno why I listened to ya in the first place. Shoulda just locked in that stupid cabin and made ya stay there!" Daryl spun around away from Beth pacing around the room. "That stupid little…I shoulda taken care of him when I had the chance." He finished loudly as he kicked a chair.

Beth stood up and calmly walked towards Daryl seeming to understand what he was really trying to say. "'s yer fault." He mumbled as Beth stopped in front of him. Beth sighed. "I know," she said. "You told me plenty of times. It ain't safe here. I didn't listen, your right." Beth lifted her hands allowing them to gently cup both sides of the man's face, slowly moving her thumbs across his cheekbones. "I'm sorry." She told him.

Daryl moved him hands to rest on her hips, his head moving slightly down. It seemed like all of the anger had dropped out of him. "I can't loose ya Beth" he told her. "Yer to important." Beth looked into Daryl's eyes, raw with emotion. She knew from that moment that even if Daryl didn't know it himself, he felt the same way about her that she did about him.

Beth licked her lips, and took a deep breath before closing her eyes and gently pressing her lips to Daryl's. At first he froze eyes wide and full of surprise. If Beth had been watching she would have seen a dazed look on Daryl's face for just a moment before he returned her kiss and pulled Beth as close to him as she could get.

"You're important to me too, Daryl." Beth murmured against his lips after the pair broke apart. "I can't loose ya, not anymore." And Daryl believed her.

"He's been watchin' us hasn't he?" Beth asked Daryl later as they were packing up food in the kitchen. Daryl glanced up from the pantry at Beth. "Ain't just him." He told her seeing no point in lying. "He ain't smart enough ta have gotten a heard to the farm by himself. Must'a found another group that helped him." Beth's head shot up, her eyes narrow. "What do ya mean?" she asked. Daryl looked at the blonde. Beth looked taken aback. "Ya think he's got a herd ta take down the farm?" Daryl shrugged. "Make sense." He told her. "Probably wasn't counting ya being gone when they got there. I bet he's been coming by the farm waiting for someone ta show up."

Daryl slung his full pack onto the counter having finished raiding the pantry. "Is that why you didn't want to come back? She asked him. "Did you know the herd was Jimmy's fault?" "Naw," he said "not 'till we saw the mailbox. I think he's probably wokin' with those guys we ran into on the highway."

Beth paled. It fit when she thought about it. The calling card was the same. A piece of fabric stuck on the mailbox just like they found on the cars. Fit too that Jimmy would go out and find a group full of people just as awful as he was. "Come on" Daryl interrupted Beth's thoughts. "Let's go get some of the girly crap yer always whining bout not havin." Allowing herself to be distracted Beth followed Daryl upstairs to her old bathroom. "Daryl brushin your teeth aint girly. It's just good hygine." A small smile stayed on Daryl's face as he and Beth walked upstairs.

Night had fallen while the two worked to finish collecting anything useful from the house. Beth's stomach growled loudly as they finished looking through Shawn's room. "I'm hungry." Beth admitted with an ashamed look. Daryl nodded, "Let's eat." He told her pulling out a can of green beans from his pack and handing it to Beth. She tore into the can downing about a fourth of its contents before she stopped and offered some to Daryl. "Naw, you eat it. I'm good," he told her. Beth shrugged and continued to eat at a slower pace.

"We need ta get moving when your done." He told her. Beth nodded taking a few more bites before putting the metal lid back in the tin can. She would make Daryl eat some later. Beth stored the can in her pack before looking over towards Daryl. He had moved everything by the front door and was rearranging the stuff inside.

"Ya ready?" Daryl asked her. Beth nodded her head and started walking towards him. "Wait!" she shouted. "I want ta leave Maggie a note." "Just in case." Beth added after seeing the look on Daryl's face. "Hurry up, I don't want anyone to see us leave." Beth ran to the kitchen to jot down a note for her sister.

Come find me where we used to hide,

when Daddy was mean

and always had a drink by his side.

Pleased with her work and confident that only Maggie would be able to figure out where they were going she set the note in the middle of the kitchen island with a pot of flower on top for safe keeping.

Beth and Daryl had kept their plans quiet all day, both having realized that someone could be watching them. Daryl was reasonably confident that they were alone, but he still didn't want to take any chances by saying something that would give a way where they were going. It was risky enough, he thought, that someone might be able to follow them.

"Ya ready?" Daryl grunted having loaded the bike. Beth nodded and moved to sit behind him on the motorcycle. Beth slid in, closer than she was used to riding because of the bags Daryl had packed. "You good?" Daryl asked in a shaky voice not used to having Beth so close, but enjoying the feeling. "Yeah, great." Said Beth whose face was turning red. She wrapped her arms around him, just as the motorcycle roared to life.

Beth had started to see why Daryl liked riding so much. The first few trips she had taken Beth had been too nervous to appreciate the freedom that came along with riding. The wind whipping her back behind her, arm held tight around Daryl, for the first time in a low while Beth felt completely at ease. She closed her eyes and titled her head back, enjoying every second of the ride.

That was at least, until Daryl slowed to a halt. Beth opened her eyes and looked forward. The road in front of them was blocked. Someone had moved cars to fill all of the space between the woods that surrounded the road. "The hell?" Daryl asked looking around. Beth was frozen, it wasn't an accident they came upon this, it was planned. Daryl was right Jimmy wasn't working alone, he found people to help him and they had done this.

When Daryl moved to get off the bike Beth's hands shot up around his arms putting them in a death grip. "No, Daryl! We have to go. We have to go now!" she said quickly eyes darting around. "Ahh!" Daryl turned to look at Beth who had let out a strangled cry. "Beth ya okay?" was the last thing Daryl asked before he started to sway and was overcome with darkness his body slumping over and hitting the ground. Seconds later Beth joined him on the ground with a dull thump of her own.

"Bethy. Oh Beeetthhyyyy."Called a singsong. Beth groaned struggling to sit up. "Wakey wakey honey, it's time to get up." Beth blinked a few times trying to get her eyes to focus on what was in front of her. Beth groaned moving her hand to the side of her face and gently touching it. "Sssss." She exclaimed. "I know Bethy, that's gonna hurt for a while, little bit of road rash. Penny got a little excited with you." Said the voice.

"Jimmy?" Beth asked timidly hoping she was wrong.

"I missed you Bethy." He replied.

7


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Jimmy crouched down so he was on Beth's level, who was sitting on the floor, back propped up against a wall. Beth groaned again and shook her head trying to get the fuzzy feeling out of her body. "Don't worry baby that will go away soon. Just some after effects of the tranquilizer you were shot with, you and that stupid red neck. What are you still doing with him anyway?" Jimmy asked with clear distain.

Daryl! The name popped in her head How could she have forgotten about Daryl. "Where is he?" she spit out. Eyes narrowed and tone vicious. "Don't worry," he can't get you here." "What do you mean Jimmy? Where is he? What did you do to him?" Beth asked in a hard voice, her eyes narrow and scornful. "Oh Bethy, he doesn't matter now. We are together again and that's all that matters." He responded gently cupping her face in his hand.

"Don't touch me!" Beth hissed leaning as from away from him as could. "You stupid…" Jimmy cut himself off breathing deeply. "You don't mean that." He started again. "You're tired and hungry. You always were hangry Bethy." Jimmy began to chuckle.

"Jim!" A stern voice called from the other side of the door. "I gotta go Bethy." He told her bending back down to kiss her on top of her head. "I will have someone bring you some dinner." He said before quickly exiting.

Beth let her head slump forward. How did she get here? And where was here? Beth's breathing began to quicken and she balled her hands in to fist. "Don't cry. Don't cry." She chanted to herself. After a few minutes Beth had managed to calm herself down. Taking a deep breath she took her first proper look around the room she was held up in.

It looked like she was in a spare room of a house. Here was a cot in the corner of the room, a dresser, several posters decorating the walls, and a few other odds and ends that looked long forgotten. She was in someone's childhood bedroom, a sparse bedroom, but a bedroom all the same. Beth had no idea how long she had been out but suspected many hours had passed. Feelings almost back to normal she decided to test out her legs and tried to stand up. "Ah…" the noise shot out of Beth's mouth as her legs started to give out form under her.

"I wouldn't try to move too much right now if I were you." A voice Beth didn't know called out. A girl who looked about Beth's age walked into the room quickly shutting the door behind her. Beth eyed the girl from across the room, but heeded her advice and leaned heavily against the wall for support. "You'll get the feeling back in your legs soon enough. Jim thinks I over did it with the tranquilizer, but you can never be too careful can you?" the girl asked. Beth continued to look at the girl with interest.

The girl chuckled to herself, as if she was enjoying a funny joke she forgot to say out loud, as she walked towards the cot setting down a try. "Here's dinner." She said. "You woke up a little late to eat with everyone else, but I suspect Jim will want you to come tomorrow." she added the last part with her lips curling down into a snarl.

"Who…"Beth cleared her throat. "Who are you?" The strange girl regarded Beth silently for a minute before she started walking back towards the door. "After you eat you can come out into the rest of the house. You're free to do whatever you like here so long as you don't cause trouble." The girl told her opening the door. "Wait!" Beth called. "My friend, my friend who I was with when you shot me, is he here too?" "For now." The girl replied with a grin. "It's a shame too, I always hate to loose the good looking ones." With that the girl shut the door and Beth was once again alone.

 _Grrrrr_. Beth heard her stomach growl. She looked over at her cot and began to make her way over to the food. Beth sniffed the plate, "Chicken?" she wondered allowed "and potatoes." She let out a short laugh before digging in. Beth doubted it was poisoned. After all the trouble Jimmy went through to find her it seemed unlikely that he would do something to her food.

Beth finished her meal quickly than she would have liked and looked at the closed door. It was tempting to stay here and hide. Beth had no idea what was on the other side of that door and the bedroom seemed safe enough for the time being.

The blond sighed. That wasn't an option she really even considered. She had work to do and a red neck to find. There was no way she was going to rest until she found him. She would stop at nothing because that's what you did to get back to the people you love. She had known it for a while but had been afraid to admit it even to herself. A smile appeared on her face. Despite the awful situation she found herself in, Beth Greene smiled because she realized for the first time that she was in love.

Beth opened the door and peaked down the hallway. It was empty as far as she could see in both directions. Beth checked for her knife, unsurprised to find that it wasn't there. "First stop weapon." Beth said to herself. Slowly she crept down the hallway heading towards a faint sound. Silently she moved down the hall walking like Daryl had taught her until she came to a set of stairs. Music wafted up reaching Beth's ears. Beth scowled. "Where am I?" she muttered to herself.

Beth could hear voices laughing in the distance. "Jim," a voiced called out. "You're coming to the rings tonight aren't you?" "Wouldn't miss it." Jimmy replied back. Beth knew that voice, it was the girl who had brought her food earlier. "Do you think Bethy would want to go?" asked Jimmy. "You don't need her! We can go together." "Now Penny," a third voice chimed in. "Beth just got here. I'm sure that she could use a familiar face in Jim here." Beth crept further into the house and rounded a corner. "I think I will go and fetch her sir. I thought she would have come down on her own. You did tell her she could come down didn't you? Penny." _Creak_ Beth had stepped on a loud floorboard.

Three heads turned in her direction. "Looks like she made it down herself." Said the man. He had nice features overall Beth thought, clean cut, neat clothes, but there was something about him that Beth didn't like. Something about the way his easy going smile didn't seem to reach his eyes. "Well now," said the man. "you must be Beth." "Yes." She said curtly. "And who are you." "Bethy" Jimmy said in a stern voice. "Don't be rude."

The man laid a hand on Jimmy's shoulder. "Don't worry son. It's only natural for her to be curious. After all she is new here and we haven't had a chance to properly introduce ourselves." The man turned to face Beth more fully taking a few steps towards her until her was with in arms reach. "This is my daughter Penny." He told her gesturing to the girl standing next to Jimmy. "And my name is Phillip Blake, but folks around here call me the Governor. Welcome to Woodbury."

"Come now Beth." Said the Governor "We can talk as we walk. " The Governor ushered Beth outside with Jimmy and Penny following closely in their wake. "I'm sorry for my daughter's rude behavior earlier. It seems she didn't get around to telling you much about our community here." Beth nodded unsure of what to say. She was very uncomfortable and felt exposed with out her knife. Why were they being so nice to her? And where was Daryl? She wondered over and over in her head.

"Woodbury is a place for survivors. We have built walls and created a place that is safe from the dead." Beth snorted. "Ain't nowhere safe from the dead." She told him. "You'll see in time dear. We are safe here as long as you follow the rules." The Governor continued to talk either uncaring of his disbelieving face or having not noticed. Either way he continued talking as they walked closer into the center of town. "You made it just in time Beth." The Governor told her. "Tonight is a special night. Do you like games?" Beth was saved having to answer with the arrival of several men. "You'll have to excuse us Beth. Jim and I are needed else where for a few minutes." Jimmy walked over towards Beth talking quickly as the Governor had already started to walk away. He grabbed her hand holding on tightly. "Just keep heading that way." Jimmy pointed towards the center of town where many people had already gathered. "I will come find you soon."

Beth turned around and was glad to see that Penny had also disappeared at some point during their conservation. Unsure of where to go Beth started heading in the direction Jimmy had pointed. There seemed to be a lot of people crowded around a big ring. They were all talking loudly and seemed to be waiting for something to happen. Beth walked past two men that seems particularly at ease, maybe even a little drunk she thought. The men were pretending to fight, laughing, and yelling loudly. One of the men tripped and they both fell to the ground, knocking a knife out of its holder and onto the ground. Beth glanced around and darted for the knife quickly picking it up and hiding it under her shirt. She didn't think that Jimmy or the Governor would be pleased to know she had found a weapon.

Beth looked around hoping to see Daryl. "You." A sharp voice called. Beth turned around and saw half hidden in shadows a tall black woman with long hair staring at her. "What are you doing here?" she said in an almost accusing voice. "Yer the lady from the store, ain't ya?" Beth asked moving closer. "I'm Beth, where are we? How did ya get here? Have you seen the man I was with Daryl?" Beth asked all in a rush.

"Did you say your name was Beth?" the lady asked. Beth nodded. "Who are you?" she asked. "Michonne" came a quick reply. Beth opened her mouth to speak again but was cut off before she could. "Your friend is here, but he's in trouble." She told Beth. "Where is he?" Beth asked. "We need to get to him now!" "No need for that." Michonne told her. "Do you see this ring? It's for him."

Beth turned and looked at the ring where the towns people of Woodbury were gathered. "I- I don't understand. What is it?" Beth asked. "It's what they do here, for sport. They have fights to the death." All of the color drained from Beth's face. "No." she sputtered. "Ya gotta help me! Please." Beth begged Michonne. "It's too late." Said Michonne pointing behind Beth.

Beth spun around and saw the town people had spread out around the ring. The Governor was standing inside the ring next to a man who had a large knife where an arm should have been. The people were cheering and hollering. Beth followed their gaze and saw two men dragging a struggling Daryl down the road towards the center of the ring.

8


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Beth's eyes opened wide and her entire world seemed to slam to a stop. All of the color drained from Beth's face for a brief moment before she seemed to go red all over. Beth's hand flew to her newly acquired knife fingers curling tightly around the handle. "Stop." Michonne's voice hissed in her ear. "You have to be smart. There's no way you can take on a whole town." Beth seemed to shrink a little, Michonne was right.

Beth's face was set in a hard line. Her eyes danced all around taking in every detail she could. Her mind was spinning. There had to be a way to get Daryl out. A sudden noise caught Beth's attention and she swiveled back towards the big ring. Beth's eyes shot to Daryl who was standing between two men at the edge of the ring. One man leaned in a whispered something in his ear that made him freeze.

"Welcome! Welcome to the ring!" a loud voice shouted over the crowd. Beth scowled. The noise from the crowd died down as everyone turned their attention towards the Governor. "Today was a good day! Wasn't it?" the crowd cheered and Beth looked at Daryl. Something was wrong with him. "Just yesterday our very own Jim brought us two very special guest. One is here with us tonight." Beth could feel her blood start to boil. "The other our young Jim here will introduce you to very soon." He chuckled. Beth could see Daryl glaring at Jimmy from where he stood. 'If looks could kill.' Ran through Beth's head.

"He talking about you?" Michonne asked quietly from behind Beth. She nodded thinking. "This" the governor said to the crowd "is Daryl." The two men started to push Daryl forward into the center of the circle. "Daryl," the governor continued. "Claims to be a skilled fighter." The crowd murmured. "Should we put him to the test?" The crowd went wild. Beth stared all around her as people hollered and chanted screaming yes! "What are they gonna made him do?" Beth asked afraid to hear the answer.

Michonne didn't need to answer. Beth could smell the answer moving towards them. Shuffling feet, groaning, and the smell of rot wafted towards the crowd. Walkers. They were going to make Daryl go up against walkers. Beth had just opened her mouth with Jimmy seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Bethy!" he cried with a smile on his face. "I'm glad you made it! Come on we get to stand up front." Beth didn't move. Jimmy smile started to falter and a dark look came over his face as Beth glanced behind her, Michonne had disappeared.

"Now." Said Jimmy, his voice cold and deep. Nothing like Beth had ever heard before. Jimmy reached out and grabbed her hand pulling her towards the front of the ring. Somewhere along their walk, his smile found its way back onto his face.

"Does he know I'm here?" Beth asked Jimmy as he put her in between himself and Penny, who stood with a sour look on her face. "He's about to find out." Said Jimmy with a smirk.

The walkers had made their way into the ring where Daryl had been left with nothing but his knife. Daryl glanced up looking around. After a split second his eyes locked with Beth's. "Daryl." Beth breathed before she felt Jimmy grab her by the shoulders and start to kiss her. Daryl's eyes narrowed look murderous as the walkers started towards him.

Beth tried to push Jimmy off of her, but it was no use. He was too strong and she couldn't get any leverage over him. Instead she decided to do the next best thing. Beth bite down hard biting Jimmy's lower lip until he screamed and bled. She turned uncaring back around to watch Daryl. He had been surrounded by walkers and was moving in a circle ready to fight. "Come on Daryl." She muttered to herself unable to take her eyes of the man. Beth couldn't help but appreciate that even in this dire situation he handled the walkers with ease. Daryl kicked a walked in the stomach that had managed to get to close while he yanked him knife out of the skull of a now dead walker. Decaying bodies fell all around him, almost making a barrier between Daryl and the remaining walkers.

Soon the last body fell and Daryl bent over catching his breath. He looked up at Beth as she ran forward to the edge of the ring. With a small almost undetectable movement he shook his head stopping her from coming closer. The two men from earlier came and grabbed Daryl. Beth watched him leave dragging his left leg. She didn't think he had gotten hurt. Why was he favoring one side? Beth's thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of Penny. "Jim wanted me to get you back to the house." Penny told her leaving no room for discussion.

The pair began to walk, Penny turning to glare at Beth every so often. "Do ya got a problem with me?" Beth asked rather forcefully. She was tired. Tired of this girl, tried of being in this place, tired of not being with Daryl, and just plain tired. Dealing with Jimmy's wanna be girlfriend was not on the top of her to do list. "You don't deserve him." Penny shot at Beth. "I don't want him." Beth shot back just as venomously. Penny stopped and looked at Beth, like she had never actually considered that Beth didn't like Jimmy. "What?" Beth asked uncertainly thrown by the girl's sudden shift in mood.

"Jim says your in love with him." She said. "Ha!" Beth laughed. "That couldn't be further from the truth. He has done nothing but cause trouble for me." They pair continued to walk, Penny thinking hard. Beth took the opportunity to look around while they walked. She had noticed several times since they started walking skid marks along with dirt road they were walking. They had just finished walking past a particularly large one that had abruptly ended in front of a small white house when an idea occurred to Beth. Daryl. That was Daryl. He was sending her a message. Showing her where they had taken him.

"Who lives there?" Beth asked pointing at the white house they were passing. Penny glanced towards the house. "Martinez's and some other muscle. No where you wanna end up." Penny told her. A few minutes later they arrive back at the Governor's house where Beth was staying. Penny pushed past Beth. "Hi Daddy." She called as she walked through the kitchen. "Where ya off ta girl?" called a voice with a familiar twang. "Ain't even gonna make time ta say hi to ole Merle." He goaded at her retreating back. The Governor chuckled "Going to check on our Jim I'm sure. His little spitfire bit him right before the fight this evening. Merle laughed, "That's how I like 'em." He said.

Beth walked into the kitchen thinking. Merle, she had heard that name before. Well well" the man said. "Who do we got here?" Merle asked leering at her. He looked familiar. The lines of his face, that accent, where had she heard that name? "Now don't scare the poor girl." The Governor said. "Merle this is Beth. Beth Merle." "Hey there Blondie." "Merle." Beth stammered. "Yer Merle?" she asked in disbelief the name clicking in her brain. "She stupid?" Merle asked looking at the Governor who shook his head. "Wow." Beth said with a laugh. "It's really ya. Yer Merle."

The man in question smiled a little despite himself. "My reputation precedes me. Probably hear all about Ol Merle from the good folk of Woodbury." Beth stared trying to picture the tow of them together. "Beth here is Jim's girl. They knew each other from before." The Governor told Merle. "I aint his girl." Beth said threw clinched teeth. "Down Blondie." Said Merle looking at the girl with a little surprise. "Yes, Beth. Let's not go and do something you might regret." The Governor told her. "Where was I? Aw, yes from before the world went to hell. You two went to high school together. Am I correct? Neighboring farms too I believe." Beth nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "Good." said the Governor with a smile. "I expect you and Jim will make a fine couple and addition to Woodbury. Now, Merle here is going to see to it that you get settled in and no one bothers you to much tonight." The Governor told Beth as he began to gather his things to leave. "Oh, and Merle." Merle looked towards the door where the Governor was headed. "I've got a surprise for you tomorrow. A hunter. I think you might like him." He said with a smile before shutting the door behind him.

"Right seems you pissed off your little Jimmy something fierce. How could a little thang like you have done ta him? Bit a hole almost clear through his lip." Merle asked genuinely wondering. "He aint mine and I aint his. " Beth bit out. "Well darlin ya belong ta someone? Cause being by yerself aint doing ya any favors here." Beth thought quickly. Even though they had never said it out loud to each other Beth knew how she felt for Daryl and she knew her heart would never belong to anyone else. On an impulse she said, "I do." She said. "That the best ya can do?" was Merle's only response.

"He's about 6.2, southern drawl, hunts with a bow, had a real piece of shit for a dad, no good brother in and out of jail most of his life, brown hair…goes by the name of Daryl." Beth looked Merle straight in the eyes as she said the last part. "Da fuck you talking bout girl?" Merle asked stepping towards her anger radiation off of his body. "I'm talkin bout yer brother Daryl Dixon. That fucker upstairs and his lunatic girlfriend Penny shot me and Daryl with tranq guns and dragged our asses here." Said said. "Daryl's here to?" Merle asked in disbelief. Beth laughed "You know he is and I do ya one better. Ya know where he is. That surprise the Governor was talking about. Yer bout ta walk into a family reunion." Merle stared at the girl speechless for once in his life. "So tell me Merle." Beth said walking up to him and getting as close as she could. "What tha fuck are ya gonna do ta help me get him out of here?"

A/N Hey guys! I know that I have been horrible at posting new chapters in any time of timely manor or consistently. I very much want to finish this story. I am cranking out these chapters as quickly as I can so you will have to excuse any grammar or punctation errors (and the length of each chapter). I've never claimed to be an awesome writer so I will leave it at that. However, my goal is to finish this story with in the next month, and then spend the summer editing. I took the time a few weeks ago to go back and read my story from beginning to end and I noticed several large plot holes that I would like to fill. But that's not why we read fan fiction is it? Thank you for your support and encouraging comments. I love that you guys are sticking in there with me! I wouldn't have gotten this far with you!


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